Of Magic and Chakra
by Kurisutiina-chan
Summary: INDEFINITE HIATUS. Naruto/Harry Potter. Orochimaru's been killed, but his powers have transferred to Voldemort. The Naruto gang is hired by Dumbledore to help protect Harry and to gather information. Adventure, drama, and romance obviously follow.
1. Meetings and Greetings

Disclaimer: Well, sadly I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, these wonderful creations belong to some fabulous authors...I have no intention of attempting to make any money off of this.

Authoress's Notes: Umm, well here's my story. The Naruto gang goes to Hogwarts. What happens? Some of the characters might be a little OOC, and I'm sorry if I offend anyone by this, but it's surprisingly hard to keep them in character. Reviews are appreciated, and if I get a positive response I'll try to update as frequently as possible. We're live in 3...2...1... ACTION !

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto looked around the room. At first glance everything inside it seemed normal enough, but upon careful inspection, the old man with the long white beard and the shiny plum coloured cloak was obviously out of place among the ninjas. Haruno Sakura was sitting in an armchair by the fireplace in Tsunade's office, while Uchiha Sasuke was perched on the windowsill. Kakashi had yet to arrive, and they were all waiting rather impatiently for him, except for the old man who had contented himself with eating some small yellow candies. Tsunade burst into the room, her face red with anger. Kakashi walked in lazily behind her, as if nothing were amiss, and the three teens would have never realized that anything was, had they not seen the giant bruise forming underneath his one good eye. Naruto snickered at his sensei and the ever-proper Sakura shot him a warning glare. Her mentor, Tsunade, was easily angered and wouldn't think twice about pummeling the poor guy. 

After Tsunade had settled herself behind her desk and taken a few moments to compose herself, and Kakashi had found a seat next to Naruto, the old man looked up. "Well Tsunade-san," he said in Japanese, "I believe it is time that the final round of introductions take place."

"It's alright my dear friend. They have all learned to speak English, it is not as important as Japanese in this land, but important enough to be learned," Tsunade replied in the man's native tongue.

The man visibly eased and spoke to the whole party in English, "My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Kakashi."

"Sakura Haruno," Sakura stated remembering that last names were said after the first name in most English speaking regions.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke stated following Sakura's example.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said, mirroring the other two.

"Tsunade," Tsunade said shortly.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, why don't I simply skip to the details of the mission," the man named Albus Dumbledore said.

"Wait, so that's why we're here! What a relief, I thought I was going to get in trouble for drawing all over Tsunade's face on the monument," Naruto laughed, clearly relieved.

"Baka," Sasuke muttered. Sakura simply stared at Naruto with horror on her face. Tsunade reached wordlessly for a bottle under her desk and took a very long swig of the liquid inside, then began massaging her temples.

"No, Naruto. Like I informed the three of you yesterday, you will be participating in a mission that will take up nearly a year. Many of the other teams from Konoha will be accompanying you as well as the three siblings from the Sand," Kakashi said.

"I don't need all those people to accomplish any mission. I'm the best of the best and I'm going to be Hokage one day. A future Hokage doesn't need that much help!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It's a very important mission, and since the teams that we can spare consist solely of children, it was decided that more of you would go," Tsunade said, and as Naruto opened his mouth to protest again Tsunade concluded with, "and that's final!"

Naruto reluctantly closed his mouth and listened somewhat quietly as the old man spoke of a boy name Harry Potter, who the ninjas were supposed to protect, and a man named Voldemort who was after the boy and who was causing destruction for the whole wizarding world. At this mention of the word wizard, Sakura's interest peaked and she asked the question that had been on the tip of her tongue since the man had introduced himself.

"Wizarding," she said, "what do you mean by the "wizarding world", and how are you the headmaster of a school for witchcraft and wizardry when witches and wizards are fictional characters.

"You're quite bright my dear," Albus Dumbledore said while smiling to himself, she reminded him of a certain bushy haired girl back at school, "however," he continued, "wizards and witches are as real as you or me. We have kept ourselves hidden from the non-magical folk, whom we call muggles, for centuries."

"I'm sorry, I still find it hard to believe that such wizards exist. None of the five lands have ever boasted of possessing someone as powerful as a wizard," Sakura said.

"Well that's because they do not live within the borders of your territory. Your land has been protected for thousands of years from the prying eyes of the rest of the world by magic barriers placed along the borders by the first shinobi. As far as my world knows, you do not exist. And as far as you know, we do not exist."

"That's impossible," Sakura said. "How could thousands, no, millions of people not know of the existence of each other."

"It's true that the whole concept is quite farfetched, and the rest of your friends had trouble believing as well, but I am a wizard, and there is another world full of people that possess powers like my own as well as others who do not."

"Prove it!" Naruto screamed. "Just prove to me your one of them wibard things!"

"If you insist." Dumbledore replied to Naruto's outburst. And with that he pulled a little wooden stick out of his pocket, pointed it at an empty vase of flowers, muttered a word under his breath, and to the amazement of everyone in the room, the vase filled with the most beautiful roses that they had ever seen.

"Your friends found it easier to believe what I had said after I did," Dumbledore said.

"Hn," Sasuke muttered while staring at the once empty vase.

"That was...that was...a-a-amazing," Sakura stuttered. Naruto was silent and even Kakshi was impressed.

"Now that everyone seems to believe my friend Dumbledore, may he continue without further interruption. We've been at this all day with the other teams," Tsunade stated. When no one objected she motioned to Dumbledore to continue.

"Well it seems that perhaps a man named Orochimaru managed to contact this Voldemort before he," Dumbledore cleared his throat, "died. We don't know how he could have possibly found him through the barrier set up, maybe he was attracted to the malicious intent. However they arranged a spell so that one's powers would be transferred to another upon their death. It seems that our greatest foe is now gifted with some extremely disturbing techniques and he must be stopped before he destroys both our world and yours. Do you comply to help protect this boy from this horrible man as well as attempt to gain information about him and perhaps partake in a...for lack of a better word, war? If so, you will be enlisted in my school as students and will be able to gather your information and protect the boy as well through this manner. It is a mission that could take even longer than a year. If you accept, I will inform you more on the situation in the future, but what I have already told you should be more than enough to help you decide whether you will accept and to help you get started."

The three ninjas looked at each other, and a simultaneous response rang in each of their minds. Orochimaru was bad news, if this guy seriously had Orochimaru's power along with his own, there would be trouble for all in the near future.

"I still don't completely believe you, but I accept," Sakura was the first to speak.

"I accept," Sasuke replied with as few words as humanly possible.

"I'm going to kick this Voldeform's butt and defeat Orochimaru's evil spirit once and for all," Naruto answered.

"And you Kakashi, what is your place in this matter?" Tsunade asked. The three teens glanced at their sensei. "Will you take the teaching position, or will you simply pose as an honoured guest like the other team leaders?"

"Yes, I will take the teaching position, but things will be done my way," Kakashi answered, "I'm not going to follow the Ministry's guidelines."

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Kakashi," Dumbledore said. "Now that all is settled, I will meet you tomorrow, here in this office, so we can depart. Farewell." And the old man vanished.

Naruto looked at his team members. "Well if the others agreed, I guess this might not just be a fairy tale..," he thought.

And the three departed, with Sakura pulling both boys by the hands exclaiming at how much packing they had to do, while both boys tried desperately to escape her tightening grasp. Kakashi and Tsunade watched their favourite team depart.

* * *

The next morning, the fifteen teens, the four team leaders, Tsunade, and Dumbledore were gathered in Tsunade's office. Tsunade clapped her hands twice causing the chatter of the group to die down. "Good, now that I have your attention listen up! Everyone is going to have to touch this old thing with a finger so that you can get out of here. You will all listen to the instructions your team leaders and Dumbledore give you. Remember the success of this mission is imperative. Also, under no circumstances should you reveal that you are known as shinobi or that you are from a different world. If anyone asks, you come from the School of Magic and Chakra, which is located in the country of Japan. Got that?" she yelled, making sure that everyone understood. 

"I still don't believe any of this is real," Sakura whispered to TenTen who stood next to her, one finger on the immense object like everyone else.

"Neither do I," TenTen whispered back, "it seems so impossible."

"Troublesome," said Shikamaru from TenTen's other side. "That's what this whole thing is. Troublesome. Too troublesome to think about."

"Isn't he cute?" said Temari from Sakura's other side. She waved at Shikamaru, who groaned. The three girls laughed at the lazy guy then turned their heads to Dumbledore who had started speaking.

"In a few moments, we will all be seemingly lifted up into the air and transported to a local pub near the alley where your school supplies need to be purchased. There we will meet an associate of mine who will guide you from that point on. Make sure to have at least a finger touching this thing alright." Dumbledore said, and with that he started to count backwards from ten. Everyone, no one doubting the man's truthfulness, reached out to make sure their hold on the object was secure and braced themselves. When he reached one. The teens looked at each other as nothing had happened, but no sooner had they thought that before they all felt a jolt behind their navels and saw a blur of colours all around them.

Seconds later they crashed in what seemed to be a dingy room. Only Dumbledore, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Shino had managed to keep their balance upon impact. Everyone else had fallen over, forming a massive heap of bodies and a giant dust cloud. Gaara and Neji were especially angered, because they had somehow managed to get stuck in the middle of all of it.

"Whoa," they heard a voice say from somewhere just outside their line of vision, which was severely hindered due to all the dust. "I think they're foreign.

* * *

Earlier that day Harry had woken up expecting a normal day, but when he had left the safe house, with the Weasleys and Hermione, to go buy his school supplies in Diagon Alley he knew he could expect no such thing. They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron to find a giant dust cloud preventing them from seeing anything. As the dust started to settle, Harry could make out a pretty large group of people. 

"Whoa," he heard Ron say, "I think they're foreign." Harry looked back at the giant dust cloud to see that he could now make out the peoples' features a bit, but one of the only things he could easily make out was a shock of pink hair. And it seemed that the pink hair was heading toward them.

* * *

Sakura had recovered from the sudden fall much faster than the rest of her friends and mentors. Even Kakashi, Dumbledore, Shino, and Sasuke, who had all managed to land on their feet were shaking from the sudden...teleportation, though it appeared Dumbledore was shaking more from the laughter he was trying to suppress at the sight of Tsunade trying to untangle herself from Naruto, than from the harsh landing. 

She stood up slowly, trying to avoid stepping on Temari's and TenTen's toes, and carefully headed toward the outside of the dust cloud. The first things she saw were a bunch of tables and chairs plus some lanterns, then, as her eyes adjusted to the dingy lighting, she could make out some people standing a good distance back from the commotion. She walked towards them, smoothing out her jeans, red cashmere turtleneck, and pink hair. The group consisted mostly of redheads, but there was one brunette, and one raven haired boy. She approached them slowly speaking in her perfected English.

"Hi," she said, "me and my friends...well...ummm...do you think you could tell me where we are?" She looked over at her friends and noticed that Dumbledore was already gone. The rest of the party had started to stand up and steady themselves, however no one had yet noticed Sakura's disappearance.

The entire Weasley family, Harry, and Hermione looked once again at the foreigners. Then Hermione, remembering the strange girl in front of her, snapped her head back towards the pink haired kunoichi and opened her mouth. "You're inside the Leaky Cauldron. Umm, I'm sorry, can I ask how you guys got here, I mean did you apparate, use a portkey, what?"

Sakura remembered that Dumbledore had told them they would be arriving at a wizarding pub. So these people were also wizards she thought. She remembered the word Dumbledore had used to describe the strange object he had them all touch. Portkey. "By portkey," she uttered to the bushy haired girl becoming aware of the numerous pairs of eyes fixed on her.

"Is that your natural hair colour?" the redheaded girl asked.

"Ginny!" a redheaded woman, who appeared to be the girl's mother, cried in disbelief.

"Yeah, and your eyes ," started one redheaded boy, only to have his sentence finished by his twin, "are so green." Harry looked at her eyes long enough to notice that they were as pure green as his.

"Fred! George!" the woman started again.

"It's alright miss, I don't mind," Sakura started. Even in the ninja world, pink hair was not normal. "People always ask. And yes, it is my natural colour," she finished looking at the young girl and the twins.

By now the dust had completely settled and Sakura could see that her friends and senseis had realized that she was not among them. They were taking head counts! She laughed silently at them, frankly, she didn't care that they didn't know where she was. The strangers were nice enough, she was sure they weren't going to do anything to her. They looked about as confused as she was.

She quickly observed the group of people she was talking with out of the corner of her eye. Two redheaded parents, one redheaded daughter, and six redheaded sons. It appeared that the two dark haired people were simply friends of the youngest son, as they were standing by him, and not actual members of the family. Sakura was intent on scanning over the members of the party a bit more and was caught off guard when a question flew her way.

"Where are you from?" the bushy haired girl asked.

"Konoha,"Sakura said.

"Konoha, where's that?" a guy with ridiculous glasses asked.

Sakura was about to answer before someone cut in.

"Japan." Sakura wheeled around to see that Sasuke had appeared behind her and was gently squeezing her shoulders in a silent reminder to live by the story Tsunade and Dumbledore had created for them. Sakura was so relieved that he had saved her from the horrible slip up, she had been about to answer truthfully. However the relief was short lived as she was attacked by another fit of silent laughter. She could see that their group of comrades had realized that Sasuke had now disappeared. They were truly oblivious. Ha, she thought, they called themselves shinobis, she wasn't even standing more than thirty feet away from them and the lighting wasn't that bad.

"Japan! Bloody hell, that's pretty far," Ron exclaimed, "why are you guys here?"

Sakura knew Sasuke would probably opt not to speak to the strangers again, she knew him pretty well after the years they had spent together. "We're participating in a foreign exchange program. We'll be going to Hogwarts, or something like that. We're buying our school supplies in Diagon Alley."

"Really? That's where my sister, younger brother, and his friends go! What school do you attend normally?" one of the taller redheads asked.

"The Konoha School of Magic and Chakra," Sakura answered. "By the way, my name's Sakura, and my friend's name is Sasuke." Sasuke had yet to remove his hands from her shoulders, and Sakura was beginning to feel a flush coming onto her cheeks.

"Oh, well, I'm Hermione Granger,"the bushy haired girl said.

"Ginny," the little redheaded girl said.

"Fred and George," the twins stated at the same time.

"Percy," stated the older redhead with ridiculous glasses.

"This is Bill, Charlie, my husband Arthur Weasley, and I'm Molly," stated the mother pointing to each named person in turn.

"Ron," the youngest redheaded boy said flatly.

"Harry Potter," said the boy with the messy black hair. Sasuke squeezed Sakura's shoulders again, and Sakura shrugged his hands off in response. They had both recognized the name of the boy they were supposed to protect the moment he said it. He matched professor Dumbledore's description perfectly. Green eyes, glasses, dark messy hair, tall, and he had a lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, the pub suddenly lit up in a blinding flash of white. "Finally," Naruto yelled, "some light!" And with that the entire room illuminated, and it was then that the shinobis finally noticed where Sakura and Sasuke were. Tsunade walked over to where they were standing and talking with the strange people and immediately started to apologize for how they had ruined their afternoon.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Molly said, "worse things have happened, and anyway, we were just passing through, we weren't staying."

"I guess that's a relief," Tsunade sighed. "I hope my students weren't bothering you."

"Oh not at all, they're quite charming. Sakura, and Sasuke was it, were just telling us about how they'll be attending my son's school through an exchange program this year," Molly stated while pulling Ron in front of her. Ron didn't mind one bit, standing in front of his mother he had a good view of the woman's chest area and was busy ogling at her breasts. "Will all of those other kids be attending to?" Molly continued motioning at the group that had made its way closer to them, following Tsunade's lead.

"Yes, they all are, and I'd love to stay and chat, but we're running dreadfully late. We were supposed to meet someone ten minutes ago. Perhaps we'll run into you again soon, tata!"

"Sakura wait," Hermione said taking a small step forward, "what year will you be in?" she asked, she had started to like the girl.

"I'm sorry, what year?" Sakura stated questioningly.

"How old are you?" Hermione said rephrasing her question.

"Oh, I'm 16," she answered.

"Great! Than you might be in the same classes as me, Ron, and Harry. We're all sixteen too. Ginny here's a year younger,"Hermione finished.

"It was nice meeting you," Sakura yelled back at the girl as Tsunade grabbed her and Sasuke by their shoulders and started leading them out of the pub. The other shinobis followed suit, but not before staring at the family they had just seen once more.

"WHY DID YOU DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT! I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK! I THOUGHT YOU GOT LEFT BEHIND," Tsunade yelled at Sakura and Sasuke when they were safely outside.

"Sorry,"Sakura said and stared down at the ground, she was ashamed of her actions now that they had angered Tsunade.

"We met the boy," was what Sasuke stated.

"Huh?" Naruto asked while he and Kakashi joined their teammates up front.

"We met the boy we're supposed to protect," Sakura repeated for Naruto, "he was the guy inside with the dark hair."

"Oh," Tsunade said quietly, slightly embarrassed that she hadn't been more perceptive- she was after all the Hokake of Konoha. "Did everyone hear that?" she questioned. "The boy inside who had the dark hair is the one who we've been hired to watch out for."

Immediately a chatter raced through the teens and their leaders. They all knew who she was talking about. He and that brunette girl stuck out like sore thumbs amongst all the red heads.

"QUIET!" Tsunade cried. "Listen up, we don't have the time to discuss this here and now, a man named Rubeus Hagrid should be arriving any minute to show us into Diagon Alley, considering how late we are, and to give us a means to pay for all your supplies, courtesy of Dumbledore..." and she would have continued if not for the enormous shadow that appeared suddenly over her students. They all turned around to see what she was looking at, and even the most gifted and cold ninjas out of them were frozen with shock. It was actually quite hilarious to look at Shino's, Sasuke's, Neji's, and Gaara's faces. Then the owner of the enormous shadow spoke.

"Well if yer lookin' fer a Rubeus Hagrid, than I guess you be the foreigners Dumbledore was talkin' 'bout."

* * *

Authoress's Note: Well that's the end of Chapter 1. Hope you guys liked it. I know I seem to be favouring Sakura, but Naruto is my favourite character. I'm just waiting for the right time to give him a way bigger role, after all he has to be the hero. Secondly, I'm not all too good at writing the HP gang so even though the story is about Harry's struggle with Voldie, there may not be as much written about them. Please review! TTFN, tata for now! 


	2. Shopping

Disclaimer: No own. No sell. No sue.

Authoress's Note: Here's chapter 2. Oh I need reviews to help me get through this. I will be editing the story in a bit. I need some time to not look at it, than to read it with a fresh mind so I can properly edit it. We're live in 3...2...1...ACTION!

* * *

Naruto stared up at the giant of a man who stood before him. "You're...you're..."Ino stuttered. 

"Huge, enormous, gigantic!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto," Sakura scolded him.

"But look at him, he's like way big. Chouji's like an ant compared to him!" Naruto exclaimed.

Ino and Sakura looked as if they were about to kill poor Naruto, and it seemed that for once Naruto realized his life was in danger, as he ran and cowered behind the giant.

"Watch it ther' fellow, it seems like them girls have got it in fer you" the giant said chuckling deeply, and then noticing everyone's awkward glances, "Rubeus Hagrid at yer service."

Tsunade rapidly recovered from her own initial shock and quickly introduced everyone to the large man.

"Well I guess we best get going," Hagrid said and then looked back at he cowering boy behind him...Naruto if he remembered correctly. "Come on boy, we need to get going or else Diagon Alley might get a little busy, and I'm guessin' you people don't want any extra attention."

He hauled Naruto up and then started walking back into pub. The lights had gone off again and the family had disappeared. There was no one left in the pub, except for an old man behind the bar who was slowly polishing glasses.

"A whiskey Hagrid?" the man asked.

"No, at least not yet," Hagrid replied, "I have to deal with some business first," he said indicating the troupe behind him.

The group walked through a door in the back of the Leaky Cauldron into a small alley. They watched as the giant pulled a tiny pink umbrella from one of his coat pockets counted out a few bricks and finally tapped one with the tip of the umbrella. They watched in amazement as an archway opened up before them, large enough for the impressive Hagrid to walk through with ease. As he passed on through the archway he motioned for the kids to follow. Once everyone had passed through, they watched as the archway faded back into a wall.

"Now if I remember correctly, you grown folk have to go meet with a few people," Hagrid said speaking directly to Tsunade, Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma.

"Heh, that's right. Go now children, let your youth grant you speed and success in your task!" Gai cried before being dragged away by Kurenai and Asuma, who were lazily followed by Kakashi and Tsunade.

Everyone turned their heads away, embarrassed by Gai's behaviour, except for Lee, who gave him a nice guy pose flashing his bleach white teeth.

"Well then," started Hagrid, unsure quite who the children he was left with were, "I guess I should pass these around," he continued pulling out a bunch of cards from one of his enormous pockets. "All you have to do is show these to the shopkeepers and they'll deduct the money from Hogwarts whenever you buy something. I advise stickin' to what's on yer lists, because Dumbledore'll know if one of you buys something completely useless.

"And I guess ye'll be needing yer school supply lists too," he said while grabbing them from yet another pocket. "Dumbledore made sure to write down the shop names where you could find these items so you guys don't wander 'round aimlessly. Well I don't know how you want to this, but I'm going to stay right here, and if you guys have any problems you can just come get me." With that Hagrid finished and stalked over to a bench where he would wait for the teens.

"Well," Shikamaru said, "how do you guys want to split up? We can't all go to the same stores at the same time, there's way too many of us. I suggest we go in our three man teams, but if anyone else has any suggestions..." he trailed off leaving the floor open.

"Oh my, everyone has just witnessed a miracle, Shikamaru actually did something of his own accord!" Temari exclaimed.

There was a bit of laughter before Hinata's quiet voice was heard. "Umm, wellIwasthinkingthat maybethegirlscouldshoptogetherandthentheguyscoulddotheirthing," Hinata blurted out as fast as she could.

"I like the idea," TenTen exclaimed.

"Me too," Ino added.

"Hn," Sasuke said.

"Whatever," Neji siad, contributing his two cents.

"Fine, its settled. We'll break off into a group of girls and a group of boys, but...we all have to go to Madame Malkin's last. I have to see what you guys look like in your robes," Sakura said while laughing.

"Malkin's last," Kiba stated, "whatever."

Then the guys headed off down the street. "Thank you so much Hinata," Sakura exclaimed hugging the girl, "you guys have no idea what it's like shopping with Naruto. This is going to be way more fun. If we hurry, we can beat the guys to Malkin's so that they'll have no way to hide their robes from us."

Then the girls ran off down the street, eager to explore the magical shops.

* * *

Kankuro looked at the nine other guys with him. Shopping. Yeah that was his idea of fun, he would rather poke himself in the eye. He looked at Gaara who was walking next to him. Gaara enjoyed shopping about as much as a little kid liked broccoli. His eyes were fixed on the ground before him and even though they seemed to hold a cold air, Gaara had considerably warmed up since he had met Naruto and become Kazekage. People were friendly to him and he was friendly back. Kazekage, Kankuro wondered how the old man they had left in charge was doing. Well he hoped all was going well. 

Kankuro then fixed his gaze on Neji. Man that guy has creepy eyes, he thought when Neji turned around to look at him. He quickly averted his gaze to Lee, knowing that Neji was probably using his Byakugan. Lee had the biggest eyebrows he had ever seen and definitely the most unique training techniques, but Kankuro knew he had a big heart and would do anything to protect anyone of them. He started thinking back to Neji, the guy had changed since the day he had first met him. He was also a lot more friendly now.

Kankuro was quickly getting bored of all the walking. They hadn't yet passed one of the stores they were supposed to visit. He looked next at Kiba and Shino who were walking next to each other. Shino hardly ever talked and the way he housed all those bugs was ridiculously creepy, but he was a good guy. And Kiba was always energetic, actually he was a lot like Naruto, they were alway spulling pranks together. Akamaru yapped once, and Kankuro turned his attention to the dog, the thing had been placed under numerous jutsus to make him smaller in size so that he didn't have to be separated from his friend and owner.

Smaller in size, that wasn't something he could say about Chouji however. He had gotten bigger and was well on his way to becoming his father's size. Plus he still always had a bag of chips somewhere on him and he was always eating them. Kankuro laughed silently as the boy brought yet another one to his lips. Kankuro then looked at Shikamaru, a genius, but a horribly lazy one. The guy had an IQ of like 200 and all he ever did was watch the clouds. I guess that's not a bad way to live though, Kankuro thought.

He scanned the group for the remaining two boys. His eyes landed on Sasuke, the human ice cube, but he had started to melt. He was still often cold, but every once in a while, you could see a smile on his lips, and Kankuro had heard him laugh a few times. Kankuro had known that Sasuke had thought that his team held him back, but after what everyone knew the two of them had gone through and done for him, he had accepted them as equals, teammates, and friends.

And lastly there was Naruto. Naruto, where was he?

"Guys," Kankuro started, "where's Naruto?"

"Damn." (Neji's contribution)

Gaara stared at the sky, and Sasuke sighed. Shikamaru smacked his head, and Chouji ate another chip. Lee looked frantically around himself, Shino shook his head, and Kiba..."Duck!" he screamed, just as everyone heard a scream from somewhere.

The ninjas flattened themselves against the ground as Naruto whizzed by on a flying broomstick yelling in pure delight. "This is so much fun, I could do this all...ahhhhhhhh," he screamed as the broom started to hurl itself in every direction possible. "Oh fuck! Help, please help!" he yelled as he was nearly thrown off the now bucking broom.

The man who the broomstick belonged to had know chased Naruto down and was telling him to land and give him back his merchandise, in reply the broom and Naruto hurled down at the man, who was saved just in time by Sasuke, who threw himself at him and knocked them both to the floor. Gaara had had enough of this. Everyone had been jumping in the air trying to grab the broom, and Kankuro had tried attaching chakra strings to it, but it was moving so fast and so sporadically that no one could catch it. Gaara swung his gourd so that it was on the floor in front of him. He popped the cap off and let the sand flow freely out of it. He thought of just what he wanted it to do, and then let it loose.

The sand flew up in the air, and as Naruto passed it in the air, it wrapped itself around the back of the broom and stopped it in midair. Gaara then had the sand pull the broom down to the ground, where Naruto fell off of it. The sand lost all shape and fell to the ground. Gaara picked up the broom and walked over to the man. "Here," he said.

The man took the broom with shaking hands and turned around and walked silently away.

"So much for not attracting attention to ourselves," Shikamaru said looking at all the guys he was travelling with.

Gaara placed the cork in the gourd and slung it back over his shoulder. "The bookstore's over there," he said indicating a rather large shop to their right.

Lee, who had helped Naruto stand up and get his footing let go of him suddenly to compare the name on the list the giant had given them to the name of the bookstore in front of them.

"Flourish and Blotts," he said aloud as a loud oomph was heard from Naruto.

"What did you do that for?" he asked rubbing his head.

"Oh, sorry Naruto," Lee said picking up the fallen boy once more.

"Yeah, well lets get this over with," Naruto said aloud and then muttered under his breath, "books, damn now I'm going to get bad grades at this school too."

* * *

"That was hilarious," choked a short stocky boy while he clutched his sides. He was laughing hideously. 

"It was better than I could have hoped," laughed another boy. This one was taller, but he was just as stocky.

"I wonder who that blonde kid was though," said another boy as he finished snickering. This boy had white blonde hair and was much more athletic looking than the other two. "Come on, we've had enough fun. Lets go get our robes so we can get out of here."

"Alright Draco," they both answered. Then the three boys headed out of the alley they were hidden in and towards Madame Malkin's.

* * *

The girls had found everything they needed with ease, and had made all their purchases except for their robes and books. Temari, the fastest of them, had run off to tell the boys to buy the books for them and TenTen, Hinata, Ino, and Sakura were sitting by a fountain waiting for her to come back. 

When she arrived it looked as if she were close to tears. "What happened," Ino asked.

"Naru...Narut...Naruto accidently went on a ride on a flying broomstick," Temari gasped then broke down into giggles. "I saw him flying around, and the guys were jumping around like monkeys trying to catch him. laugh I could barely tell Kiba that we were delayed and that we wanted them to pick up our books for us, I was laughing so hard."

"Is h-he O-Ok?" Hinata asked.

"Oh he's just fine, nothing's wounded but his pride," Temari said, finally calming down.

"So we're free to go get our robes then?" TenTen asked.

"I don't see why not," Ino began, "I just want to see the guys in theirs, they probably don't care to see us in ours."

The five friends headed across the street into Madame Malkin's and looked around as the door closed behind them. All around them were different types of fabrics and they were easily distracted by the shiny and bright materials.

"How can I help you?" asked a voice from somewhere behind the racks. A woman emerged holding on to a heap of the colourful fabrics.

"Umm, well we're here to get some school robes and some dress robes, I think," Sakura said checking her list.

The woman walked over to the counter and placed the bundle in her arms down. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses which she promptly placed on her face. She took one quick look at the five in front of her. "You must be the exchange students Dumbledore told me about," she said reaching into another pocket and pulling out a measuring tape, "hmmm, school uniforms and dress robes. Aren't there supposed to be some boys with you," she said while pulling Ino forward and moving her arms up so she could start measuring her.

"They should be coming soon, they're just picking up our books," Sakura said while the woman they assumed to be Madame Malkin wrote some numbers down and pulled Hinata forward.

"Picking up your books, you sure have them well trained," Madame Malkin said while she measured Hinata. She wrote down some more numbers and pulled TenTen in.

"Now, as for dress robes, well that applies more to the guys than to yourselves. I have some nice material around the store and after I finish measuring you in a minute, you can pick your favourite fabric and pattern and I'll whip up some gorgeous dresses for you," Madame Malkin continued as she finished with TenTen and started with Temari.

"Umm, Madame Malkin, what are the dress robes for?" TenTen asked.

"Well I'm sure there will be a ball held in your honour, and then there'll be the Christmas ball, oh you must make sure to come back here at some point to pick up your dresses for that. The term dress robe really applies more to the guys as they wear robes, like the school ones except much fancier, not those ridiculous suits that muggles wear," Madame Malkin said as she finished with both Temari and Sakura.

"Now go look at the material and the styles, and hurry back. Your robes should be done by then and I'll need you to try them on to make sure they fit just right. I'll use the modified measurements to make your dresses, and I'll send those to the school tomorrow, the ball won't be for another week or so, so that'll be enough time," and she disappeared behind some curtains.

The girls looked at each other and, even though they were trained as ninjas and were all a little tomboyish, ran through the store pulling rolls of material out and flipping through books of styles. Ino, Hinata, TenTen, and even Temari finished quickly enough and were heading towards the counter when they noticed Sakura wasn't done. Ino halted.

"Go on guys, I'll catch up. I just need to look around a bit more," Sakura said. She looked at her friends faces, "Oh just go already."

Sakura watched as her friends made for the counter and disappeared behind the curtain Madame Malkin had gone through. Then she looked back at the rolls of material she had pulled off the shelf. She had picked out the design she wanted already, but she wasn't sure about the colour. She carried one of the bundles to the mirror on the far wall and held the cloth to her face.

"I wonder, does this colour suit me? Or should I go for the red?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"No, don't go with the red, the white looks so gorgeous against your skin."

Sakura wheeled around in surprise, nearly dropping the cloth she was carrying. She had been trained in every kind of spying art, yet she hadn't been able to detect the presence of...of who exactly? She couldn't see anyone through the rows. "Damn," she thought, "why couldn't I be gifted with the Byakugan or something."

She cautiously walked to the end of the row where she could now see three boys leaning against the counter at the front. Two of them repulsed her immediately, they both looked so out of shape and dumb, but the one in the middle, the one who had spoken, he was tall, looked fairly athletic and smart, but his eyes. His eyes disturbed Sakura deeply. They were cold, filled with hatred and wickedness, she wondered how someone could speak so warmly when they had eyes that looked so...that looked...like that.

"Yeah, definitely the white," the boy repeated as she got closer, "it's just perfect for an angel like you. My name's Draco, Draco Malfoy, by the way. Do you live around here, how come I haven't seen you before?"

Sakura wanted to gag. He was kind of good looking, in a creepy 'I'm going to steal your soul kind of way', but that line was purely pathetic. She tried her absolute hardest to be as polite as she could under the circumstances. "My name's Sakura and no I'm not from around here. I live in Japan."

"Japan? Isn't London a little far to travel for robes?" the boy, Draco, asked.

"Yes, well no. See I'm participating in an exchange program, I'll be attending Hogwarts for the year and I came here to get my uniform and some supplies, after all school does start tomorrow and it wouldn't help much to be in Japan," Sakura replied.

"Is that so?" Draco asked as he took a few steps closer to her, "do you know what house you'll be in?"

"House?" she asked.

He ignored her question. "Well I'm in Slytherin, and it would be a pity if you were sorted into any other house. We would hardly have any time to get to know each other over the course of the year if we weren't in the same house," he stated taking a few steps more towards her.

Sakura was beginning to feel incredibly uncomfortable. The boy was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Well I should probably go try on my robes now, I mean my friends are waiting," she blurted as she tried to duck past him. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her in to him. "Do you think you could let go?" she asked as she dropped the material in her other hand.

"I don't know. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to do that," he said. Sakura stared quizzically up at him. She had no clue what he was implying. She had already started to gather her chakra to her fist and was about to punch him the way Tsunade had taught her if he didn't let go when she heard the tinkle of the bell over the door.

"What are you doing Malfoy?" someone spat.

* * *

Hermione, Ron, and Harry had finished their shopping already as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had volunteered to pick up most of their stuff as they bought Ginny's. They were walking down the street, heading towards Madame Malkin's so Hermione could get a dress and so that Harry could have his school robes altered a bit, discussing the event that had transpired earlier in the day. 

"How could they travel by portkey and not know where they ended up," Hermione asked for what seemed the hundredth time.

"I don't know, maybe all they knew was that it would take them to London, but they didn't know where in," Ron answered Hermione as best as he could.

"And that girl, how could she possibly have naturally pink hair?"

"I don't know Hermione, maybe a birth defect."

"And did you see that boy?"

"Which one Hermione? There were like ten of them."

"The one with the ridiculously blonde hair, the one who was screaming."

"Yeah I saw him, and the boy with the gourd on his back, and the boy with the dog, and the boy with the weird eyebrows, and the boy with the white eyes. Hermione I saw everyone that you did. The guy with the pony tail, and the guy eating chips, and the lady with the big jugs, and...oww," Ron responded to being smacked, "well she was right in front of me, damn Hermione that hurt!"

"And you? Do you have anything to add?" Hermione asked looking over at Harry menacingly.

Harry looked up with a start. He had been remembering his eyes. For a fraction of a second Harry had noticed that that guy, Sasuke, his eyes were glowing red. They reminded him so much of Voldemort that Harry couldn't take his mind off of them. They had been full of hunger, a hunger for blood. Who's blood? That was what Harry wanted to know, it looked like the boy was ready to kill.

"The girl, Sakura, she seemed nice," Harry managed to say, he didn't want to worry his friends over something that was probably a figment of his imagination.

"Yeah she was wasn't she..." and Hermione continued on about how sweet she had been and how she hoped that if the exchange students were sorted, Sakura would be in Gryffindor so that she might have someone else to talk to, and... Harry tuned out.

The trio almost missed the store as they weren't paying attention, but they quickly backtracked and pushed on the door that lead into Madame Malkin's shop. What they saw stopped them in their tracks for a moment. Sakura, the sweet girl they had met earlier, was standing by the counter with a bundle of white material at her feet, which wasn't to strange considering they were in a clothing store, however her one hand was clenched in a fist at her side, and her other was trapped by Malfoy who held her firmly by the wrist. The two were only inches apart, and it seemed as if Malfoy was staring at Sakura with a certain lust, while Sakura looked petrified and disgusted at the same time.

"What are you doing Malfoy?" Harry spat, "tormenting someone already? And the school year hasn't even started."

Malfoy didn't budge, but Sakura turned to see the acquaintances she had made earlier that morning. Hermione, Ron, and Harry. She let the chakra fade from her fist and let her hand fall limp.

"Get lost Potter," Malfoy spat back, "this doesn't concern you."

"I'm afraid it does Malfoy. You see that poor girl that you're bothering right now happens to be a friend of mine, and I think she would appreciate it if you let her go," Harry said.

Draco loosened his grip on her slightly and turned his head to face Harry. "Could you please let go of me?" Sakura asked again forming a fist once more and sending her chakra there as rapidly as she could.

In response Malfoy motioned to his two cronies who started to walk towards Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The three of them pulled sticks, like Dumbledore's, our of their pockets and pointed them at the advancing boys. Sakura had seen what was possible when you used one of those...wands... and figured things could become dangerous if she didn't intervene. She still wasn't completely sure what was going on, why wouldn't the boy let go? But she had given him a fair time to act on his own.

Before anyone had a chance to react, she swung her fist and hit Draco as hard as she could. She listened to the satisfying yelp he made as she made contact with his cheek. He immediately loosened his grip on her and she pulled her arm away and walked over to where Harry, Hermione, and Ron stood. The three gaped in awe at Malfoy, who was clutching his cheek. It had turned bright red.

Malfoy was about to take out his wand when Madame Malkin appeared from behind the curtains. "What happened here?" she asked looking at Malfoy's red cheek.

"I'm sorry Miss, but I thought this boy was trying to grab my ass and I hit him without thinking," Sakura answered.

"Well then. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle here are your robes," she said while picking up three packages from behind the counter, "I have quite a lot of customers coming in and it won't do to have any unnecessary people hanging around. I hope to see you again at some point. Goodbye," she finished, handing the packages to the boys and pushing them towards the door.

"Yeah," Draco said, then he looked at Sakura, "I'll see you around." And he walked out followed by the two apes.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Madame Malkin asked.

"Yeah, just let me grab some material and I'll be right with you. I'm sorry for keeping everyone waiting."

"Alright. Oh and Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, if you just wait with Sakura and follow her in I'll be able to help you," said Madame Malkin as she rushed back behind the curtain when a yelp from Ino was heard.

Sakura picked the bundle of cloth of the floor and looked at her three new friends. "Thanks," she said.

"What was he doing? I mean why was he grabbing you like that?" Hermione asked.

"I wish I knew. That was beyond creepy," Sakura answered.

"Ron, take that bundle from Sakura and carry it behind the curtain," Hermione ordered. She looked at Ron who was still staring at the girl with the crazy strength. "Now!"

Ron shuffled across the floor and took the silky white material from Sakura. "Here, let me," he said.

Then the four of them walked through the curtains.

* * *

Draco Malfoy had immediately flooed back home after picking up his robes. He had shuffled through the mansion and had laid down on his bed. The girl with the pink hair, Sakura. She had surely been one of the people his father was talking about, one of the people that the Dark Lord had prophesied would show up. And she had met and bonded with Potter and his fan club already. Perfect. 

He sat up on his bed and looked in the mirror that was mounted on the wall in front of him. An enormous bruise had already started to form on his cheek where she had hit him. He had been going to try to convince her to come home with him, and if she hadn't agreed he would have hexed her. His father might actually have been proud of him...yeah, and You Know Who would start giving candy to little kids.

Draco fingered some bottles in his drawer, he could easily get rid of the bruise, but maybe it would be better to keep the bruise and let the girl think she had the upper hand. He wouldn't tell his father anything, not yet. He would wait until he could get something useful out of the girl, by trickery or by force. "She was cute, after all," he thought, "I don't want her pretty face mangled by daddy dearest."


	3. Nightmares

Disclaimer: Me no own, me no sell, and you no sue.

Authoress' Note: Well here is my unedited chapter 3. Hope you like it. It may take me awhile to get the next chapter up and to get around to editing the other chapters, but I'm sure if I get some reviews...even if all you write is "good job", "nice work", "I like your story", or even "Meh, it was Ok but not my favourite"(I prefer the first three) I'll be motivated. Say it with me, motivated. M...O...T...I...V...A...T...E...D. Well, I'm sure you've had enough of my rambling, thanks for the lovely reviews. Mwah! (That's an air kiss blown to all you who read my story). Now, we're live in 3...2...1...WAIT!

P.S. Umm, I really haven't edited this chapter...like at all...so there may be a few weird things in it as well as mistakes. Anything you notice that seems to not make any sense, or that you think might sound better worded another way...or changed completely, please tell me in a message or a review. Also, ideas you have for the Houses are welcome. I already have something that I'm thinking about, but its not one hundred percent set up. Thanks. Alright already, here's the story. We're live in...no seriously this time...3...2...1...ACTION!

* * *

"Oh my gosh!" Sakura gushed at the sight of her friends in their school robes, "You look so cute!" 

"Shut it Pinky," Temari snapped. The four girls were outfitted in black pleated skirts, white blouses, and black robes that clasped together at the neck. They were each wearing their own socks, but she expected that they would be told to wear black knee socks and black shoes with the school outfits.

"Ah, Miss Haruno. Oh and Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger decided to follow you after all. Girls, you can go change," Madame Malkin said turning to Ino, Hinata, TenTen, and Temari who were standing on stools being poked at by pins that were floating around and pinning the material of their own accord. Temari sprang from her stool, and sprinted into the nearest changing room, followed by the other three girls.

"Miss Haruno, your uniform," she then said while handing Sakura a bundle. She then accepted the roll of white from Ron, and a page that Sakura had pulled out from one of the design books. "Lovely choice, the dress will turn out beautifully. You three, come on. Let's give the girls some privacy." Then she left, shooing Ron, Hermione, and Harry out with her.

Sakura examined the small crest on the robes and noticed that it consisted of a hand curled into a fist emitting sparks, underneath of it, in a flowing script it said 'The Konoha School of Magic and Chakra'. She smiled, it was pretty cute. She wondered who had thought of it. She turned around and entered the only remaining changing room. She quickly threw on the uniform and stepped out of the little cubicle to see her four friends waiting for her.

"So how does it fit?" TenTen asked.

"Perfectly!" Sakura exclaimed happily as she twirled around in front of a mirror. The bewitched pins seemed to agree as they didn't start attacking her like they had attacked the other girls.

"You, you l-look good, Sakura," Hinata nearly whispered.

"Thanks Hinata," Sakura replied admiring how well the outfit fit her.

"So what took you so long, forehead girl? We thought you had bolted on us or something" Ino asked.

Sakura shot Ino a glare and stuck her tongue out, then explained what had happened between her, the slime ball, and the little trio.

"And you didn't call me," Temari complained, "I would have shown the creep."

"Sakura, are you sure you didn't hit him too hard? We don't want the whole school to be scared of us," TenTen asked, her voice full of concern.

"Positive. I held back, even though I really should have punched him harder," Sakura answered.

"Punched who?"

* * *

After Temari had run to tell them to pick up the girls' books then disappeared again, the guys had done just that. The rest of their morning thankfully passed without further incident. They managed to pick up all their supplies without Naruto doing anything else...unique? Then, dutifully obeying the girls' orders, they had then gone to Madame Malkin's to get fitted for their uniforms. They opened the door and entered to find the shop empty and silent, but almost immediately, a chatter started up from behind a curtain. Naruto ventured toward it and pulled it back to reveal Sakura, in different clothes than those she had been wearing that morning, speaking to Temari, Ino, Hinata, and TenTen, who were all dressed normally. 

"Positive," she said, "I held back, even though I really should have punched him harder."

"Punched who?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nearly died of fright as she was the only one who hadn't seen the curtain being pulled away.

"Naruto you idiot! You scared me! I could have had a heart attack!" she picked up one of the stools and threw it at him. Naruto ducked and instead of hitting her target, the stool hit Shino.

"Oh my gosh Shino I'm so sorry I didn't meant to hit you I was aiming for Naruto but he ducked so instead the stool hit you and oh my gosh I am so sorry I mean I was just so scared and everything and I reacted without thinking are you okay are you hurt oh my gosh Shino I am so sorry," Sakura rambled on covering her face with her hands and peering out at Shino from between her fingers.

Ino and Temari were doubled over from laughing so hard and were leaning on Hinata and TenTen for support. Shino massaged his wounded head, then picked up the stool, which earned a yelp from Sakura. Since the blow hadn't hurt him that much, and since he did still hold a minor grudge against Naruto for not recognizing him a year back, he dropped the stool on Naruto's head.

Sakura giggled nervously in relief, and Ino, Temari, and even TenTen were laughing especially hard now, they were clutching their sides and leaning against the wall to keep themselves from falling. Hinata rushed to Naruto's side and quickly dragged him across the floor to a corner where she carefully massaged his head. This made room for the other guys to come in and see what was going on.

"What the hell?" Chouji asked.

The three laughing girls looked up to see everyone else staring at them. They were quickly silenced with looks from Gaara, Neji, and Sasuke, and rapidly assumed decent positions.

"Who did you punch, Sakura?" Lee asked. He had been standing behind Shino and had heard Sakura's statement.

Most of the boys looked at her in surprise. Even though Sakura had trained under the hotheaded Tsunade, she was reluctant to lash out unless absolutely necessary.

"No one," Sakura replied putting on as innocent an expression as she could.

"Yeah right! She punched out some guy that tried to hit on her," Ino contributed with obvious delight.

Kiba looked at Sakura, "What's with the clothes?" he asked.

"Those clothes are your new uniform," said Madame Malkin as she stepped through a hidden door. "Oh, Miss Haruno, a perfect fit! You can go change now. As for you," she continued motioning to the boys, "just step over here and I'll take your measurements." She pulled out her measuring tape and note pad and then started grabbing the boys and measuring them in turn as Sakura changed. She stepped out of the room dressed in her normal clothes.

"Madame Malkin?" she asked, "did those other kids leave yet?"

"The ones you came in here with?" Madame Malkin asked for clarification as she started to measure an uncomfortable looking Gaara.

"Yeah."

"No, but they'll probably be leaving any time now, I just finished with them," she answered as she scribbled a few things down and beckoned for Naruto to come over.

"Could you hold this?" Sakura asked as she thrust the bundle of clothes into Neji's arms. "Thanks," she finished as she ran out the door.

Sakura emerged into the main room to see Hermione's hand on the door knob. "Hermione!" she called out.

The bushy haired girl turned to look at her and smiled warmly. "I just wanted to thank you guys, for earlier I mean," Sakura said.

"Thank us!" Ron exclaimed. "We should be thanking you. I haven't seen anyone hit Malfoy since that time Hermione smacked him in third year."

"Yeah, well I would never have had the courage to defend myself if you guys hadn't come in, thanks a lot."

"Your welcome," Harry answered her. "Will we see you on the train tomorrow?" he asked.

"I don't see why not. Bye," she finished with a wave and turned back into the room she had come from. The three wizards looked at her and smiled. If the rest of the exchange students were only a little bit like her, this would sure be an interesting year.

* * *

Madame Malkin had finished measuring the boys and had run off to get her preliminary pieces of clothing. They were all standing around looking quite uncomfortable, especially Lee who seemed disappointed that he couldn't wear his spandex suit at school, and Neji who was holding a very feminine blouse and skirt in his hands. 

Naruto laughed at the boy, "Well, aren't you going to try them on?" he asked.

Neji shot him a glare filled with hatred and quickly threw the clothes to Sakura as she walked through the door.

Naruto had been itching to rest, and eat, for awhile now, and he was getting rather impatient. The girls were talking quietly amongst themselves and the guys were just staring at things. When Madame Malkin came in and handed packages to Lee, Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Shino, and told them to go try them on a relief flowed through the room. The girls distanced themselves from the changing rooms and positioned themselves in a place where they could easily see all five stools.

Everyone waited expectantly for the boys to come out, but when after a few minutes not one of them had appeared everyone was pretty irritated.

"Get your lazy asses out of there, now or I'm going to come into those changing rooms and..." but Ino didn't have a chance to finish her threat as Shikamaru quickly interrupted.

"Alright," he uttered lazily.

He, Chouji, Lee, and Shino stalked out of their changing rooms and out onto the stools where the pins started attacking them.

"Kiba that means you too!" Ino screeched.

"I look ridiculous! I am not wearing this," said Kiba from behind the safety of the closed door.

"I'm counting to three. 1...2..." Ino didn't have a chance to finish as Kiba darted out of the changing room. Ino could be deadly when angered.

Now that all five boys were standing next to each other, the girls took a chance to look at their uniforms. A white shirt, black pants, and a black cloak like theirs with an identical crest. Madame Malkin had even managed to find a cloak with a high collar on it for Shino.

"You look ah-dorable," Sakura laughed.

"Like gentlemen," TenTen added. All the girls, including Hinata, looked at each other and laughed simultaneously. Their friends were no where close to being gentleman. And they looked pretty strange in their uniforms, so proper. As the pins finished poking the embarrassed boys, Madame Malkin gave them the okay to go change and they all darted back into the rooms they had come from.

Next she handed bundles to the remaining five shinobis, Gaara, Kankuro, Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto. Naruto was the first to emerge from the changing room and stepped out unsurely. Hinata blushed deeply at the sight of Naruto in a colour that wasn't a shade of orange, and even Sakura was shocked. He actually looked civilized. Next came Sasuke who looked the same in the dark robe as he did in his usual clothing. Then came Neji, Kankuro, and Gaara.

The clothes were unfamiliar and impractical for fighting in, but they weren't as horrible as the boys before them had expressed. The only thing that really seemed to bother them was the possibility that the shirts might have to be tucked in. They were relieved to find the pants weren't dress pants and that the cloak had many pockets sewn onto the inside. The perfect place to hide some kunai and shuriken.

As the girls finished laughing, the pins finished poking. "Alright, you can go change now boys," Madame Malkin said as the boys hoped off the stools and walked back to their respective cubicles, "now as for your dress robes, I've decided on the pattern and colour that I think suits you best. Boys just don't seem to have the same fashion sense as girls," she said with a wink to the five kunoichis. "Anyways, I'll send those to the school tomorrow with the girls' dresses. Oh, and I believe you all have a card of some sort to show me."

Everyone reached into their pockets and pulled out the cards that Hagrid had given them. Madame Malkin wrote down something on her notepad. "Tell the boys in the stalls not to worry about those silly little things," she said as she walked through the curtain back into the main room.

When the boys were done changing, all fifteen teenagers walked back into the front room and received packages from Madame Malkin.

"Thanks," Lee, Naruto, Kiba, TenTen, Ino, Sakura, and even Hinata and Temari chorused. The remaining boys nodded in the shopkeeper's general direction. Then they walked out of the store and headed to the place where they had last seen Hagrid.

* * *

"Why did you disappear?" Tsunade asked Dumbledore when her and the four jounins arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron. 

"It could have saved us a bit of confusion," Kurenai added.

"I'm sorry," the old man said and smiled, "but I had to get a few things in order."

"It might also have done some good to inform us that your friend was, rather large in size," Kakashi contributed thinking of what more Naruto might have said had he not been scared by the two violent girls.

"I guess," the old man laughed.

"So," Asuma started, "why did you need to meet with us?"

"Well I need to tell you where you'll be staying and how you and the children will be getting to school tomorrow," Dumbledore stated as if it were quite obvious. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag from which he pulled a yellow candy that he popped in his mouth. "Care for a lemon drop?" he asked offering the bag to the five adults.

Only Gai reached for one.

"Mmm delicious, so where was I, ah yes. Well you and the students will be spending the night here. I have already made the reservations," Dumbledore said. "Now as for how you'll be getting to the train station tomorrow we'll..." Dumbledore was interrupted.

"Train station?" Gai asked.

"Yes, train station. You and your teams will ride the Hogwarts express to school like everyone else," Dumbledore said.

"I thought we didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention," Kakashi said, "Sakura's hair alone will have everyone's heads turned our way."

"You do have a point, however, I feel we might as well get the gossiping out of the students' systems as early as possible. Are there any objections?" Dumbledore looked at the faces of the five ninjas in front of him. When no one spoke he continued. "So you'll use the same method to get to the train station as we used to get here. You'll arrive in an alley close by and from there you'll walk in. You'll head to platform nine and three quarters and board the scralet train there. It will take you to Hogwarts along with the rest of the students."

"Oh well is that all?" Tsunade asked sarcastically.

Dumbledore smiled at her. She was the same now as she had been when she was only a little girl. "Yes, not too hard. Now you and the children will meet the members of the Order soon," again he was interrupted.

"The Order?" Asuma asked.

"Oh my, did I forget to tell you." Four semi-irritated faces and one bored one looked at him. "Well some witches and wizards, including myself, have been working together to gather information about Voldemort and to protect families, muggle and wizarding, from him. The Order of the Phoenix is a group that has no ties to the Ministry so there is a much lesser chance that a spy resides in our midst, whereas the Ministry is so large that Voldemort is bound to have spies in nearly every department. You will all have to meet them at some point so any information you have gathered can be shared."

"With all due respect, there seems to be a lot that you haven't told us, sir," Kurenai said.

"There is, isn't there? Well, I will meet with you again as time progresses, but right now all you need to know is that you have to protect Harry Potter, and gather as much information as you can about Voldemort. That and how to get to the school tomorrow," Dumbledore finished with a laugh.

"Do you think we could go over that again?" Gai asked.

And the six continued to talk until they heard a deep voice from somewhere behind a door.

* * *

After the teens had joined up with Hagrid again, he quickly made sure that they had picked up all their supplies, then led them back to the pub they had come from. "Hello?" the giant bellowed as they passed through the door. Tsunade, Kurenai, Asuma, Gai, Kakashi, and Dumbledore all came out of the small room they had been speaking in. 

"I see you met Hagrid and bought all your supplies. Good!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "I just finished explaining to your senseis how you'll be getting to school tomorrow."

Shikamaru looked up at the old man and asked a question he had been thinking of since they had received their shopping lists. "How come we didn't buy any of those sticky things?"

"Perceptive," Dumbledore started. "If you would all take a seat," he said motioning to one very large table in the center of the room. As they all sat down, Dumbledore took a place at the head of the table. He looked at each person in turn and cleared his throat. His eyes were twinkling brilliantly and he seemed overjoyed by the group of people sitting in front of him.

"Wands. The way a wizard focuses his magic. You see, a wizard is someone who is born with magic flowing through their veins. Not everyone can pick up a wand and instantaneously begin casting spells you see. The wand only focuses the wizard's magic so that he may manipulate it to do the various activities he wishes, it is not what creates it- or else than anyone could be a wizard. Or witch," he added looking apologetically at the females at the table.

Dumbledore began fingering his own wand. "The way you focus your chakra is similar, except you don't need a wand as an outlet. I suppose I could have had Ollivander design a wand that would allow you to manipulate your chakra like magic, however instead Tsunade and I decided that we would tell the students of my school that you perform wandless magic. In some classes this may prove to be a bad choice, however the teachers have been informed of your unique usage of 'magic' and will allow you to perform certain tasks in ways that you find fit."

Naruto looked confused, but nodded his head as if he understood. He was hungry, and when his stomach growled quite audibly, everyone around him knew it.

"I guess you would all probably like to enjoy your lunch now," Dumbledore said while flashing a smile to Naruto.

Naruto looked up at the man and prayed that no misfortune would ever befall him. And when laden plates were brought to the table, Naruto nearly hugged him, however was quickly distracted by a bowl of steaming ramen. They ate lunch together in relative peace, and when they were all done, Dumbledore left the shinobis to find their rooms.

"Miss Haruno," Dumbledore called as she was about to climb the stars.

Sakura turned around and approached the old man. "Here," he said as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the table. He muttered a few words and a thick book appeared. He picked it up and handed it to her, "'Hogwarts: A History'. I thought that if you wanted to learn a bit about the school before you arrive there you could read a few passages from this book."

Sakura graciously accepted the gift, "Thanks."

"Your welcome," Dumbledore replied. He turned around and took a few steps towards the door, but before he got there he disappeared. Sakura blinked a few times, but accepted the unexplainable. She turned on her heels and ran up the stairs.

* * *

When they all had gathered in the second floor hallway all hell broke loose as most of the people gathered there tried to grab a room. "Quiet!" Tsunade yelled. Silence followed. "Only eleven rooms were available for our use so pretty much everyone has to share," Tsunade said. "Including me," she mumbled under her breath. "Asuma. Gai. You're in room 3. Neji and Lee, room 4. TenTen and Hinata, room 6. In room 7 Kiba and Shino. Kakashi, you're in room 8. Room 9 is Gaara's and Kankuro's. Room 10 is Temari and Ino's. Shikamaru. Chouji. You'll be in 12. Myself and Kurenai will be in room 13. Sasuke and Naruto, you two will share room 15, and Sakura you'll be in room 16." 

"Why does Sakura get her own room?" Naruto complained.

"Just shut up and be glad she didn't put you in a room with Gai," Kakashi whispered in the boy's ear.

Naruto visibly shuttered, then ran into room 15 screaming, "Fine then, I call the bed by the window!"

For the rest of the day, everyone did pretty much whatever they wanted. Many of the shinobis explored Diagon Alley and others started leafing through their textbooks. Shikamaru climbed up on the roof of the building and spent most of the day looking at the clouds, Sakura read the book Dumbledore had given her, and Sasuke trained as silently as he could in the room he shared with Naruto. That evening everyone ate dinner together downstairs, in the now busy pub, and afterwards headed slowly to their rooms where they drifted off into sleep.

* * *

She was walking down a dark hallway. No, running. She was looking for a way out. She passed by hundreds of locked doors, looking for the one that would open, the one that would take her out of this place. All of a sudden she came to a door with light seeping out from underneath of it. She reached out for the handle and slowly turned it. Then she pushed the door inwards. It swung forward on its hinges and she passed through it quickly hoping it would lead her outside. 

Instead she ended up in a room with a single light illuminating a spot in the center. The door shut behind her and she turned at the sound. Then she turned back to face the center of the room and saw that in the middle of the spotlight, there stood a person, head bent, with what seemed to be half a head of dark hair.

"Sasuke?" she called out. No one answered her.

"H-Harry?" she tried. Again there was no response.

Then the person looked up and she stumbled as she took an instantaneous step back. Half of the person's face resembled Orochimaru's in every way, but the other half was more snake like. The nose flattened out into only a slit, the eye glowed red, and the mouth became two thin lines. She turned to leave but saw that the door was now only a speck in the distance.

She started to run, and it seemed like she could make it there. Then she slipped and fell. She sat up and looked around the floor near her to see that she was in a red, sticky puddle. She heard laughter coming from where she had last seen the gruesome figure and quickly tried to stand up, but she was frozen in place. She tried to move, even in the slightest way, but couldn't even lift her fingers. The figure was approaching and had started to laugh again.

She began to shake in fright, she couldn't even defend herself from this...creature...and then...she could move her hands! She lifted them up as the thing took another step towards her...

Sakura threw the blanket off of herself. She had broken into a cold sweat and her pyjamas and hair were sticking to her. She was shaking and crying silently. She brought her knees to her chest and started rocking back and forth. The dream had seemed so real, she had felt so helpless and scared. She let herself sob. The moment she had locked eyes with the man, she had thought her life was over. She looked at the clock on her bedside table, 4:07. There were a few hours left before she was supposed to wake up, but she knew she wasn't going to be going back to sleep tonight.

* * *

He was staring into faces. Faces that he had once known and recognized, faces that he had tried to forget. Then as fast as they had appeared- they disappeared, and he was walking down a street, people were smiling at him and he...he was smiling back. He passed homes and shops and continued to follow the street. Soon there were no shops or houses and only trees and bushes on either side of the road. But he continued to follow the path. 

Suddenly the road ended and in front of him there was a graveyard. He slowly and cautiously approached the first two headstones. Then he gazed at the names on them. He took a few steps back, then turned to look at the other headstones. He walked up and down the rows, stopping in front of each one in turn. Then he came to the last two. They were blank. He looked on the opposite side- still blank.

Then there was a laugh. He looked up to see Orochimaru standing not five feet away from him.

"You weren't strong enough," he cackled, "you weren't strong enough to save them. Not then, and not now."

Two names instantly started to spread like ink over the blank surfaces. He stared at them, confused, until two words could easily be read. On one, Naruto. And on the other, Sakura. He looked up only to see that Orochimaru had disappeared and in his place stood another man. One who looked more like a snake than a human. His nose was nothing more than two slits, his eyes glowed red and his skin was pale and almost scaly.

The boy stared at the headstones and watched as more started to sprout up next to them. "And you weren't strong enough to save them either," the snake man hissed as the names of his peers, including the boy, Harry Potter, inked themselves over each one.

He watched as a final headstone sprouted up in between Naruto's and Sakura's. His name appeared on it. "And you weren't strong enough to save yourself, brother."

The boy looked up to see that his older brother now stood before him. All of a sudden roots wrapped around his feet and started pulling him down into the earth. He tried to yell, but something was in his mouth. He tried to move around and get it out...

Sasuke sat up and pulled off the blanket that had managed to wrap itself around his head. He was sweating and shaking. He had been having nightmares since he was a child, since his parents had been brutally murdered by his brother, but this one hadn't even contained that scene. He heard a gasp and a sob from the other side of the wall and turned to look at it. Sakura. He looked at the clock, 4:07, then he looked at the bed next to his.

* * *

He was fighting someone. A blurry figure that kept shooting sparks of light at him. He was dodging them easily, but there were so many that he was too preoccupied with defending himself from the flashes that he couldn't land a single blow on the man...maybe woman. He was getting frustrated with the battle. It was raging on and on and he was getting tired. 

Soon he could feel the kyuubi taking control of him. He let it in moderation, he needed the boost of chakra. He could feel his legs shaking beneath him and could sense that what little stamina he had left was depleting. But after giving the fox demon a bit of control it started to take over him. He could notice the difference in his power, he could easily dodge the light, even when it started to come at him more frequently. He was getting closer, close enough to land a blow...

He was lying on a pile of dirt and he didn't remember a thing. He looked around himself and saw nothing but bare, desolate land. He stood up and took a few steps forward, only to fall from the weakness that resided in all his limbs. He sat up and looked around again, this time more slowly, looking for anything, anything familiar. And then he saw a man, a man who was walking towards him. He stopped before he was close enough for the boy to possibly identify them.

"Where am I?" the boy asked.

"You're lying on a battlefield," the man stated.

"Battlefield?" the boy said questioningly.

"You don't remember? You killed everyone," the man sneered. "All the villagers, your peers, your teachers, your friends. Sakura and Sasuke tried so hard to stop you, to help you, and you killed them without a second thought."

"That's not true. It's impossible," the boy stuttered.

"You lost control. You became the fox demon, and you murdered everyone," the man said.

He looked around and saw that now there were indeed bodies around him. The one's closest to him were his dearest friends, a raven haired boy and a pink haired girl.

"You killed everyone except your intended target." A flash of light was sent speeding towards him...

Naruto sat up in bed and opened his eyes. He was panting and was trying to slowly reduce the rate that he was breathing at. He had been petrified when he had thought that he had killed all those people, even if it had been only a nightmare. He looked at the clock, 4:07.

"Hey," a voice said from somewhere to his left.

Naruto nearly jumped out of his bed from fright. "You dumbass," he nearly screeched, "you scared the hell out of me, I should...Wait, why are you up?"

"I had a dream," Sasuke answered simply.

"Me too," Naruto started, but was quickly interrupted by a sound from the room next door.

Both boys stared at the wall behind them. They could hear hiccuping coming from Sakura's room, and the occasional sniffle. They looked at each other, then both climbed out of bed and walked across the floor to the door. They opened it as silently as possible and stepped out into the hallway, walking the few short steps to Sakura's room.

Sasuke knocked lightly on her door. The two boys waited silently as they heard her shuffle around inside, followed by silence. Seconds ticked by, then the door suddenly opened. Sakura stood there with a kunai in each hand. When she saw who was standing in front of her, she dropped them and placed her hand over her heart.

"You scared me!" she exclaimed taking a step back so she could lean against the wide open door. "So, what do you want?"

"We heard you crying and thought you might like some company," Naruto said.

"I'm fine," she said.

Sasuke looked quickly into her eyes, then watched as Naruto walked into the room. She was scared, more frightened than he was, more frightened than Naruto was. Naruto pulled a chair over to the bed, sat down on it, and turned to face her. He wasn't leaving. Sasuke followed suit and walked in, passing Sakura who was still standing at the door. He sat down on her bed and looked at her.

She sighed, picked up her kunai and shut the door. She walked over to the bed, placed the kunai on the small nightstand, and took a seat next to Sasuke. "So why are you two up anyway?" she asked. She pulled her gaze from her lap to look into their eyes, and they looked into her's. At that moment, they knew they had all suffered through a nightmare.

The three people, who had once had difficulty getting along, sat in a reassuring silence as the hours passed by. Comforting each other through their small actions and looks until nine o'clock came.


	4. To the Hogwarts Express We Go

Disclaimer: Well, sadly I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, these wonderful creations belong to some fabulous authors...I have no intention of attempting to make any money off of this.

Authoress' Notes: PLEASE READ, I'LL KEEP IT SHORT BUT THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Ok, firstly I feel horrible because I haven't updated in forever. Secondly this is due to a death of a close friend of mine. It kind of screwed me up for a bit. Third, this chapter is seriously unedited but I feel that I shouldn't neglect updating any longer. And fourth of all I will be replacing the older chapters with edited ones (that includes this one, I just really had to post this today or else I might not have a chance to for another week). Just some grammar mistakes and the like so no need to reread them. Fifth of all, please send me your ideas for what houses I should sort the characters in as I haven't completely decided. I need just a wee bit of feedback. Well enjoy the story. We're live in 3...2...1...ACTION!

* * *

Harry groaned and rolled over when he heard someone calling his name. They called it again, and he pulled the covers over his head and mumbled something incoherent. Then all too suddenly, the sheets were ripped back, exposing his bare upper body to the chilly air in the room. Someone grabbed his shoulders and started to gently shake him, calling his name. Harry rolled onto his back, but made no other effort to acknowledge whoever's presence. 

"Fine," he heard from somewhere above him, then cold water was being poured onto his face. He immediately sat up and started to cough, because some of the water had entered his mouth. "Finally," the voice said, "you have to get your stuff together, get dressed, eat breakfast. Come on, we're going to be late."

Harry reached for the bedside table and moved his hand around until he felt the cold metal of the frames of his glasses under his fingertips. He closed his hand gently around them, then brought them to his face and put them on, only to turn his head to see Hermione dump half a pitcher of water on Ron. Ron spluttered incoherently for a moment then, "Oi Hermione, what did you do that for?"

"You guys have to get ready. Today's the first day of school and we have to make the train," Hermione answered. "Hurry up and get your lazy asses downstairs." And with that she disappeared, leaving the two drenched boys alone in the room they shared.

"Do you think we should get dressed?" Ron asked Harry.

"I think we should. And quickly, or she might come back with another pitcher," Harry answered.

As the boys started picking things of the floor, drying themselves off, and slowly getting dressed, making sure not to look at the opposite side of the room, Harry thought about the dream he had had last night. He had been playing Quidditch. Not exactly monumental. What was strange was that for the last little while, he had been having nightmares that generally pertained to Voldemort and a strange man. Last night, he hadn't dreamt about either of them at all, and had actually managed to get a full 8 hours of sleep without being woken up once by his scar.

He thanked someone for the small mercy they had given to his severely affected sleep pattern, and exited the room with Ron in tow, only to come face to face with Ginny at the top of the stair case.

"Mum says that neither of you should think of coming down for breakfast until you've packed everything in your trunks. She knows what a mess your room was in last night," Ginny said as she pushed her way past the boys and headed to the room she shared with Hermione.

Harry and Ron immediately turned around and went back into their room to pack up.

* * *

"So you two finally finished," Fred stated as Harry and Ron came stomping down the stairs a half hour later.

"Hn," was all Ron said as he sat down at the table in front of him and reached for the nearest laden plate.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked as he too took a seat and grabbed a bowl full of eggs.

"I think she and Ginny are trying to catch Crookshanks," George answered.

"Shouldn't you two be at work?" Ron mumbled through a mouthful of bacon. "Or at least at your own flat," he added under his breath.

"Nah. We wanted to see our little brother off to school," Fred chirruped.

"Plus, we will be working," George added, "I'm sure loads of your classmates are going to want to stock up on Canary Creams and such before the start of the school year."

The twins smiled happily at the upcoming business opportunity. Mrs. Weasley who had just walked in looked at them disapprovingly, but kept her mouth shut. She had learned it was best to just keep her nose out of her sons' business. After all, their products were all ministry approved. At least that was what she hoped and prayed every night.

As Harry and Ron shoveled some more of Mrs. Weasley's cooking into their mouths, Hermione and Ginny came in, both with a few scratches on their arms. Hermione put a basket on the floor in front of her and looked to the boys.

"You just started eating?" she asked, looking at their full plates.

"Yeah, so?" Ron asked through a mouth full of food.

Hermione muttered something that sounded a lot like 'boys' under her breath, then took a seat at the table next to Ginny, who had already positioned herself next to Fred.

The party sat comfortably at the table, chatting amiably amongst themselves as Harry and Ron, followed by a late coming Mr. Weasley, finished their breakfast. Then Mrs. Weasley used her wand to clean all the dishes and to send them back to their proper spots.

Harry still didn't know how they were getting to the station and was about to voice what was on his mind when he heard the honks of a few cars outside.

"That would be the taxis I ordered," said Mr. Weasley, who had become a bit more practiced when it came to using the telephone. "Hurry up kids, go get your things."

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all rushed upstairs to grab their trunks and other necessities for the school year. After they had finally got all the people, animals, and trunks outside the door of the house they were staying in temporarily, the fearful looks on the taxi drivers' faces were clearly evident. Two hooting owls, a maniacal cat, 6 teens, and two rather bubbly parents was a lot to handle, even if it was for only a twenty minute trip to the train station.

* * *

Ino watched as Tsunade performed head count after head count, making sure that no one had been left behind in the pub. The morning had gone horribly, at least in Ino's opinion. First, they had all had to get up ridiculously early, well ridiculously early be Ino's standards anyway, just so they could make sure to get to the train station on time. Then, when a thing was brought before them and they were told to touch it, Ino had to suffer through the same horrible feeling that she had felt the first time the group had traveled by portkey. Of course they had pretty much all fallen down again because this time they had had to hold a trunk in one hand as they were jolted through the air, and Ino was a bit dusty from having landed in a dirty alley way.

At least no one had seen them.

That was Tsunade's way of bringing light to the situation.

Ino dragged her trunk over to where the four other girls were standing and sat on it. "I'm so tired," she complained.

"Shut up," Temari snapped, "you've done way more straining things before. Quit being such a baby."

"Please forgive her Ino," TenTen said, "she landed on a piece of gum, and now it's tangled up in her fish nets."

"Here," Sakura said as she pulled a pair of scissors from the purse she had slung across her shoulder. She cut the places where the gum had tangled itself into, then cut the fish nets on the other leg the same way.

"Cute!" TenTen exclaimed as she looked at Temari's newly torn fish nets.

"Thanks," the girl mumbled, acknowledging both Sakura and TenTen.

"Let's go," they heard someone say from somewhere.

The girls all groaned and began dragging their trunks behind them as they followed the voice.

Suddenly, Sakura was without one. She looked back and saw Sasuke stacking her trunk on top of his. Then when he was done, he started dragging both his trunk and her's towards the direction the group was heading in.

"Sasuke..." Sakura started.

"You're too tired right now," he said in response. Then quickened his pace and passed the statue-like Sakura. "Are you coming?" he asked as he turned to face her unmoving form.

She jogged to catch up with Sasuke, then walked next to him and Naruto, who had joined them, until they reached the doors to the train station.

* * *

Sasuke was not impressed in the least by the hustle and bustle around him, or the few enormous trains that he could see. It was true that the ones they had seen back in 'Japan' had nothing on these trains when it came to appearance, but there was no reason for such excitement. He watched as a few of the other shinobis commented loudly about and visibly awed at the sight, then turned away and scanned the enormous hall for a sign indicating the location of platform 9 and 3/4.

There wasn't one.

Everyone had placed their trunks on little trolleys, that they had found inside and grabbed to make the transportation of their luggage a bit easier, and had moved themselves somewhere near platforms 9 and 10. It seemed then that the fact that platform 9 and 3/4 appeared nonexistent had been brought to Tsunade's attention. She was whipping her head around, in a rather funny manor, as she tried to figure out where they should go. As everyone tried to stifle their laughter, they suddenly heard Lee speaking rather loudly. They turned their heads to face him and saw that he was talking to a man in a peculiar uniform.

"Hello sir! Do you think you could tell me and my friends here how to get to platform 9 and 3/4?" he asked as he took up his nice guy pose.

"Every year," the uniformed man grumbled under his breath, to the shinobis in front of him he said, "Look. There is no platform 9 and 3/4. See the signs. Platform 9," he said motioning to one sign, "and platform 10," he finished motioning to the other sign. "No platform 9 and 3/4," the man concluded, clearly exasperated.

"I'm so sorry our friend bothered you," TenTen said as she walked forward and grabbed Lee's arm and started pulling him away. "He forget to take his medication today you see, and when that happens he starts to babble on about things that make sense only to him," she ended, looking as apologetic as she could.

To Lee she said, "Come on. We have to go find your pills."

Lee protested incoherently as TenTen pulled him to the back of the group.

The man walked away laughing to himself about the foreigners, but what they had managed to learn from him more than made up for his rudeness. There didn't seem to be a platform 9 and 3/4 here.

"Maybe we should have asked the old man where the platform was," Kakashi told Tsunade.

She looked as though she were about to jump Kakashi and pummel him to bits. Kurenai calmly grabbed her sleeve and held on. Tsunade felt the woman's weight on the fabric and sighed. She calmed a bit then to Kurenai she said, "I know. I need to keep my temper. But I'm worried and him making me angry is not helping," she said as she shot a disgusted look at Kakashi who didn't even notice as he was so immersed in his book. "I mean, poor Shizune, I don't know how long she can handle the village for. Even with Jiraiya helping her. The faster I accompany you and these brats, I mean...oh hell...what I meant was...nevermind. The faster we get to the school, the faster I can get back to Japan," she said, just in case anyone who wasn't supposed to be was listening. "And the faster I get back to Japan, the faster I can calm down."

"Yeah, the faster you get back to Japan, the faster you can get at the stash of sake bottles under your desk," a voice calmly stated.

Most of the people in front of her burst out laughing, they all knew their hokage had a habit to drink when she was stressed. Gaara however was busy thinking about how often he would have to travel back and forth to make sure his village stayed safe. He couldn't believe how easily he had let his brother and nutcase sister convince him to go with them. Hopefully the man he had left in charge would be able to defend the city against any smaller attacks. He let his attention wander back to the people in front of him and noticed that Tsunade was about to pummel the source of the comment, Naruto, when a shy voice spoke up.

"Umm...we could ask the family from the pub if they know where the platform is," Hinata said as she directed everyone's gaze to the six redheads who could only be members of the Weasley family, and the two brunettes, one of whom's life was their responsibility for the next year.

"Great idea Hinata," Sakura said as she hugged her friend. Then she raced away from the group to welcome Hermione and ask her where platform 9 and 3/4 was.

The group of shinobi followed her.

"Hey Hermione!" Sakura called as she approached the group in front of her. "Mr. Weasly, Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Ginny."

"Sakura!" the bushy haired girl exclaimed.

They hugged quickly as the other members of Hermione's party said quick hellos.

"Look," Sakura started when her and Hermione had separated, "my friends and I are having a little trouble finding the platform, and I thought since you guys were also going..."

"Of course we'll help you get to the train," Mrs. Weasley interrupted, "you and your friends just follow me dear."

Mrs. Weasley turned and walked straight for the magical barrier that would lead her, her family, and the exchange students to the Hogwarts Express, looking as if she were a woman on an important mission. Sakura quickly linked arm's with Ino and started walking with her close behind Hermione, Ron, and Harry. The other shinobis followed.

When they reached the wall between platforms 9 and 10 everyone stopped as Mrs. Weasley stopped, except for Fred and George, both cartless, who simply continued to walk right through the solid stone. All of the foreigners stared in awe as the twins disappeared.

"Well," Mr. Weasley began, "as you can see all you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Don't stop and don't be scared or you'll crash into it."

Neji, who was one of the first to recover from the initial shock, looked at Mr. Weasley. "We just walk through, carts and everything?" he asked just to be completely sure there was nothing else to it.

Mr. Weasley nodded his head to show that Neji had gotten it right. Neji grabbed TenTen and Lee by their arms and started dragging them forward with him. He continued to pull their protesting frames until the three were feet away from of the wall. TenTen and Lee froze up, scared that they were going to crash if Neji kept walking. Neji paused for a moment, then continued on, dragging TenTen and Lee with him, then when the three should have hit the wall, they simply passed right through.

Seeing this, the shinobis gaped again. Then Sasuke pulled Naruto forward a bit by his hair and tapped Sakura's shoulder. He motioned to the wall and Sakura and he started walking towards it with an excited Naruto skipping in-between them. All of a sudden they weren't in the train station anymore but standing on a platform with a giant sign that said 9 and 3/4 on it.

A bright scarlet steam engine billowing clouds of smoke made the three stop momentarily in their tracks. It was extraordinary. Bigger than any of the other ones they had seen in the station. Even Sasuke was impressed by the train, it seemed to be radiating off chakra. All at once, the three seemed to realize that their friends would be coming through soon enough, so they started walking over to where they could see Lee, TenTen, Neji, Fred and George. TenTen was waving them over, Neji was sitting on his trunk looking at the ground-which made Sasuke think he was using the byakugan so that he could watch as many people as he could-, and Lee was talking to the twins who both had a mischievous glint in their eyes.

"Really," George insisted, "it's harmless."

"Yeah, harmless," Fred echoed.

"If you're sure," Lee said as he took a pastry from the boys. He was about to pop it into his mouth when Naruto bumped into him, making him drop it. "Sorry Lee," Naruto said as he steadied himself.

Fred and George both looked a bit saddened, after all what they had given Lee was a Canary Cream and they were both really hoping that he would eat it, but almost seconds later a bunch of teens were calling their names and asking them if they had anything to sell. Fred and George smiled and said quick goodbyes to the teens that stood, and sat, in front of them, then ran off telling people they passed that Canary Creams were on sale, 2 boxes for the price of 1.

After the twins left, Neji looked up and Sasuke saw very noticeable veins fading from the sides of his eyes. He had been using the byakugan.

"Anything we should know, Neji?" TenTen asked. Of course his own teammates would know what he was up to.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone suspicious on the platform," Neji said.

"That's good then," Lee said in response.

"But..." he started, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, TenTen, and Lee immediately looked alert, "there are two people that are staring at us," he continued.

TenTen was tempted to look around and see who Neji was talking about except she, like the rest of her friends, knew better. "Where are they and what do they look like?" she asked.

"Both are tall, have almost white hair, and steel grey eyes, and they're standing next to the fourth pillar to our right."

"Oh lord," Sakura said.

Everyone looked at her curiously then a look of understanding crossed TenTen's face. "Him?" she asked.

"Neji, does one of them have a bruise on his left cheek?" Sakura in turn asked Neji.

"Yes," he answered sounding quite surprised. "Do you know him?"

Sakura ignored Neji's question and looked at TenTen and sighed. "Him," she answered.

"Who?" Naruto demanded.

"Remember the boy I told you I hit back in Malkin's? Well that would be him and I'd guess his father," Sakura answered.

Sakura was spared from more questioning because at that moment everyone else from their group appeared. "What took you so long," she asked quickly as soon as Kakashi was within hearing distance.

"It took a lot of convincing to get Temari, and..."Kakashi started.

"And?" Lee asked, expecting Ino or Hinata to be on the list.

"It took a lot of convincing to get Temari, Shikamaru, and Kiba to go through the barrier," Ino laughed.

"We had to drag Shikamaru through!" Asuma exclaimed.

Shikamaru's face was turning redder and redder as the wisps passed. He didn't even bother to give the reasons for his resistance.

"Thank-you Mrs. Weasley," Tsunade told the red-haired woman when she came close to the group.

"You're very welcome," Mrs. Weasley said as she smiled. Then she frowned and turned to the six shinobis who had gone through first. "You wouldn't happen to know where my sons went would you?" she asked.

"They ran to that group of people over there talking about Canary Creams," Naruto told the woman.

"Oh no." And with that she, and Mr. Weasley, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione with her, disappeared into the crowd.

When they turned to watch her leave, the shinobis realized that they seemed to be the focal point of most people's attention.

"Professor Dumbledore told us that there would be some compartments reserved for us in the back," Kurenai said while motioning to the back of the train.

Everyone picked up their trunks, their carts completely forgotten, and began dragging them to the back of the train. They made their way through all the people still standing around on the platform all the while hearing wisps of conversation about them.

"Oh my God, her hair is pink!"

"Look at the guy next to her. He is so hot!"

"Look at those two people with white eyes. Are they like blind or something?"

"Well that lady's eyes are red. Maybe their eyes are magically induced?"

"His eyebrows look like giant fuzzy caterpillars!"

"I think the blonde one's got some kind of disorder. He's hopping around like a frog."

"I wonder what that guys book is about? He hasn't looked up from it once."

When they reached the stairs, they easily lifted their trunks up them and onto the train where they immediately saw 6 compartments with signs on the door that said reserved. The teens naturally split up into their 5 separate teams, one to a compartment. The last compartment was left for their senseis.

Once they had all stowed their trunks away, everyone met in their senseis' compartment, which from the outside appeared to be completely normal, but, from the inside was big enough to accommodate everyone comfortably.

"Since during the week you'll all have to attend classes and do homework," Gai started then stopped as he heard a collective groan from the teenagers in front of him.

"As I was saying," he continued, "since you'll be busy enough during the week, during the weekends is when we'll all train!"

The teenagers groaned again. Most of them had thought they'd get a break from training since they were on a mission and Chouji voiced this.

"This is a long term mission," Kakashi answered, "and we don't want you guys to be out of practice at any point during it."

"Whatever," Kankuro said.

"Anyways, you'll all be introduced to the students formally at dinner tonight," Asuma stated.

"We'd rather you'd stay in your compartments but if you find the need to introduce yourself to anyone on the train remember we're from Japan and please," Kurenai started, "don't stir up any trouble."

"One more thing," Tsunade started, "tonight when you're introduced to the students..."

* * *

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Mrs. Weasley, and Mr. Weasley all stood together on the platform close to the train. It was only a few minutes before eleven and the eight were saying their final goodbyes.

"Promise me you four won't do anything stupid this year," Mrs. Weasley demanded of the four teens in front of her that would be attending Hogwarts.

"We promise Mum," Ron said, clearly exasperated, "we're going to miss the train if we don't go now."

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione added, "Ron and I have to go to the prefects meeting."

"Did I tell you how proud I was of you hun?" Mrs. Weasley asked her son.

"You did Mum," Fred said.

"All last Summer," George added.

"All this Summer-"

"The entire car ride here-"

"The entire walk to the train-"

"Don't forget again right now-"

"I get the point boys!"

"Bye Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George," Harry said. "Thanks for everything."

"Your welcome Harry," Mr. Weasley answered.

"Remember to write!"

"Bye Mum!" Ginny exclaimed.

The train whistle blew once and the sounds of the engine got noticeably louder. "Bye Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said as the four ran to the train and clamoured up a set of steps. The doors of the train shut behind them and seconds later their heads appeared in a window close by. Their goodbyes were covered up by the shouts of the rest of the people on the train.

Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley looked at them sadly as they waved goodbye and Fred and George smiled brightly while yelling at them to remember to remind their classmates that orders for their products could be sent all year by owl. Herry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione laughed when Mrs. Weasley whacked her sons on their heads with her purse. Then the train turned a corner and the Weasley family vanished from their sight to be replaced by houses and fields.

Their home for the next ten months was getting closer with each passing second.

* * *

Authoress's Notes: Please review and I have a quick question...if I delete and old chapter to post an edited version of it, will I lose the reviews I have for that chapter? Just curious. Thanks all for reading my bit of fanfiction. 


	5. An Unexpected Event

Disclaimer: Me no own. You no sue.

Authoress' Notes: PLEASE READ, I'LL KEEP IT SHORT BUT THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Ok, firstly I feel horrible because I haven't updated in forever again. I seem to have the worst luck ever. After my last update I couldn't write because I had to study for exams, then after exams I went to an end of the year party and broke my right arm after someone pushed me to the ground (by accident) in a game of basketball on the person's driveway. So anyways, my parents took my computer away from me for the time so that I wouldn't try to type or anything. And I only got it back after the cast came off. So yeah. I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer since the next time I'll be able to update will be at the earliest the second week of September as even though I've finished my Summer reading, I haven't written a single word about any of the books yet. So that's my priority right now. Anyways, there are some grammar mistakes and the like in the story...I know there are even if I've gone over it, but whatever. Some of the e-mails I've gotten weren't pleasant so here's your mostly edited update. Oh yeah, and please send me your ideas for what houses I should sort the characters in as I still haven't completely decided. I need just a wee bit more of feedback. Well enjoy the story. We're live in 3...2...1...ACTION!

* * *

"Sorry to leave you Harry, but we have to go to the front compartment for the prefects meeting before school," Hermione said after the train had pulled out of the station. 

"Yeah," Ron said. "Sorry Harry. We'll be back as soon as we do our rounds."

"What about me?" Ginny asked angrily. "Sorry to leave you Harry, we'll be back as soon as we do our rounds Harry. What about me? I'm your sister Ron, you're supposed to at least pretend to be nice to me in public."

"Sorry Ginny," Ron said, "I'll see you later."

"Oops," Hermione added. "Don't worry, Ginny, I didn't forget you. I promise we'll see what we can do to your dress when I get back. See ya."

"Bye guys!" Ron said as he and Hermione walked out of the compartment leaving Ginny and Harry by themselves.

"I'm going to go see what Luna's up to,"Ginny stated as she slid the compartment door open. "Do you want to come, Harry?" she then asked.

"No thanks," Harry answered, "I still haven't done my Potions essay. I should probably get started on it now while it's nice and quiet in here."

"If you're sure," she looked at Harry for confirmation. He nodded his head. "Well then, bye Harry," she called as she slid the compartment door shut behind her.

"Bye," Harry muttered as he reached for his backpack and pulled out a copy of _The Daily Prophet_. His potions essay had waited this long to be finished, well, actually, to be started. It could wait a few more hours.

Harry unfolded the paper and stared at the headline on the first page for a few minutes,_ Muggle Bridge Collapses, Maniac the Cause?_, before he finally shifted his gaze to the article itself. It was a report describing what had supposedly happened to a muggle bridge. It had apparently snapped clean in half, which was rumoured to be impossible as the bridge was fairly new. _The Daily Prophet_ reported that the source of the sudden break was a charm performed by a very powerful wizard. Harry turned the page to see a picture of the now destroyed bridge. Underneath a caption stated that wizards and witches nearby could do nothing to help or slow the breaking. Whatever the charm cast, it was irreversible.

Harry folded the paper back up and stuffed it back into his bag. Then he turned to stare out the window. He must have fallen asleep or something as awhile later a knock on the compartment door completely startled him. He jumped up, then visibly calmed when he heard the voice that followed the knock.

"Umm, Hermione?"

* * *

Sakura was incredibly bored. She had tried reading some of her text books but that hadn't solved her problem. Then she had tried reading _Hogwarts a History_ but that didn't quite solve her boredom either. Sasuke had disappeared minutes after the train had left the station. Sakura had her suspicions that he was on the roof of the train, as shortly after he left she heard what sounded like footsteps above her. Naruto and the some of the shinobis were walking around the hallway near their compartments and talking to each other, while some others tried to catch up on lost sleep. None of theses ideas really appealed to Sakura. 

So she decided she was going to go visit Hermione. She stepped out of the compartment only to smack into Naruto. He looked down at her and smiled.

Damn, Sakura thought, when did he get so tall? Naruto had once been the shortest member of their genin team, but now he was taller than Sasuke was, albeit not by much, only a quarter inch or so, but both of them were a good few inches taller than Sakura.

"So where are you going?" he asked.

"I thought I would go visit Hermione," Sakura answered.

"Can I come too? There's nothing to do and I'm bored," Naruto complained jokingly, "plus you must admit that some company might be nice."

"Oh, of course you can!" she exclaimed. Then she linked arms with her teammate and friend and set off.

The two managed to take about three steps down the hall when they heard someone yell for them to wait. They turned around to see with Ino running out of one of the compartments waving her arms, followed by a tired looking Shikamaru who was rubbing his eyes. "Can we come with you?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," Naruto answered after having looked to see Sakura nod.

They walked down the hallway until they came to a slightly open door. Sakura could see Harry's frame through the small crack.

"Umm, Hermione?" Sakura called from behind the mostly closed door after having knocked on it. Her and Naruto had watched as Harry had jumped from his seat and then relaxed when she had called out to Hermione.

"She's not here, she's at a meeting," Harry answered.

Sakura opened the door a bit more and looked inside. Harry indeed sat there alone. "Do you mind if we come in," she asked as she took a step inside the compartment and motioned to the three friends who stood crowded in the doorway behind her.

"I don't see why not," he answered.

Hearing that Naruto bounded into the room, followed by Ino and Shikamaru.

"Guys, this is Harry. Harry, these are my friends Naruto, Ino, and Shikamaru," she said motioning to each one in turn.

"Hi," Ino chirped as she smiled warmly at Harry.

"Hey," Shikamaru said as he took a seat on one of the cushioned chairs.

"Hello," Naruto exclaimed as he took one of Harry's hands and started shaking it energetically.

"Hey," Harry answered in reply. He then gently pulled his hand out of Naruto's strong grip and shifted slightly as Sakura sat down next to him. Ino took a seat next to Shikamaru and Naruto looked at the ceiling.

"Please," he begged to no one in particular.

Shikamaru looked at Ino then Sakura. The whole school would find out eventually, most students, if not all, would find out in the next 8 hours or so. It would be okay if Naruto gave a small demonstration to one person they all thought. The three nodded their heads simultaneously and Naruto seeing this grinned like the Cheshire Cat and then proceeded to walk up the wall.

Harry watched in awe as the boy walked across the ceiling without once pulling out a wand to cast some sort of spell. His mouth gaped open as Naruto stood there upside down for seconds and seconds without falling.

"How...How did you do that?" Harry asked.

"This little trick?" Naruto asked while waving one hand in the air as if to say that this was nothing. When the boy nodded he simply answered, "Magic."

"But you...you...didn't use a...a wand," Harry stuttered.

"It's wandless magic," Ino stated.

"Wandless magic?" Harry asked.

Shikamaru sighed and looked at Sakura, Naruto, and Ino. They were all staring at him expectantly. It would be his job to explain chakra to this boy in a way that would make it seem like nothing more than magic. Minus the wand.

He sighed again. "Troublesome," he muttered under his breath. Then to Harry he said, "Your wand simply focuses the magic that flows through you and then releases it when key words are spoken." He then stopped and looked at Harry who nodded in understanding. Shikamaru then continued. "We don't have to use a wand to focus our magic. Sometimes we need to make hand signs but we can manipulate it however we want without having to use a wand," he said.

"But this does limit what we can do," Ino quipped in. "Like, we can't turn a teapot into a vase of flowers or anything, but we still have a ton of means at our hand to accomplish most tasks."

Harry sat in his seat stunned by what he had just been told. Hermione had never once brought up the subject of wizards who could use wandless magic, and he was sure that if she had known about it, she would have shared the information with him long ago. The impossibly blonde Naruto stared at him with a wide grin from where he stood on the ceiling. Harry looked down into his lap and sighed. There was so much about the world that he didn't know. Moments ago he would never have believed in this wandless magic, but now that the Japanese exchange students had clearly given him a demonstration as well as an explanation, he didn't find it quite as impossible.

All of a sudden, Harry and the rest of the passengers in his room were launched from their seats. Naruto lost his concentration and fell to the floor with a loud thump. The train had stopped so suddenly that no one had managed to keep their balance. From every direction similar thumps could be heard along with swear words and a few screams. Then the power went out and even more screams were heard as some older girls reacted.

"Calm down everyone!" a male voice called loudly as he trod down the hall. "Everyone stay in your compartments please."

Sakura ducked her head out and saw Ron walking down the hall, sighing as he told students to go back inside their rooms. She quickly stepped out and ran with as light a step as she could manage down the hall to where their compartments were. When she reached the end, she could see that all the other shinobi teams were gathered outside in the hall. She slowed her pace as she reached a sleepy looking Kakashi.

"What's up?" she asked.

"We thought you would now actually," he answered, "weren't you up near the front of the train?"

"It's so foggy outside, it's not like I could see anything," she stated.

"Well then, I guess we'll have to go up closer," he replied. "Where's Naruto?"

Just then Naruto exited their team's compartment and Sakura looked at him curiously.

"What?" he asked. Seeing her look he said, "Oh. I ran down the side of the train and climbed in the window. Ino and Shikamaru should be coming soon."

"So where's Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"I think he might be on the roof of the train," Sakura answered him.

All while they talked the other teams were discussing what could possibly be the hold up. Kakashi motioned to his two students and the three of them walked into their compartment where he climbed out the window Naruto had left open and onto the roof of the train. Naruto and Sakura followed suit.

Once up there they saw Sasuke who was sitting completely motionless with his legs dangling off the side of the train looking totally unbothered by the sudden stop.

"Sasuke," Kakashi called. He stood up and looked at his team, "Were going to check out what's going on up front," Kakashi finished.

Sasuke made some kind of noise but followed as his friends and teacher ran lightly across the rooftops of the compartments. As they neared the front, Kakashi began to count and then stopped - both moving and counting. He bit his finger, made some quick hand seals and slammed his palm into one of the rooftops. Pakkun appeared underneath a hand that was now scratching behind his ears.

"What do you want?" he growled out to Kakashi.

"Nice to see you too!" Kakshi exclaimed happily. He then took a serious tone and asked, "How many are there?"

Pakkun sniffed the air and looked at Kakshi. "Seven," he answered.

"Go get Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro then," Kakashi said to the dog, then whispered something in his ear. As Pakkun ran off, Kakashi looked to see the expectant faces of Sakura, Naruto, and Sauke. "What?"

"We can handle seven, Kakshi-sensei," Sakura said truthfully.

"These aren't ninjas though, or regular people for that matter?" Sasuke said, yet also asked Kakashi just to be sure.

"Actually," Kakashi answered. "Somehow there are a three shinobis in the group, yet there are also four other people, most likely wizards. We have no clue how much damage their wands can cause yet and I feel it would be safer not to take any chances."

"So why get just Gaara's team?" Naruto asked. "Why not the others?"

"Pakkun will inform everyone of the current situation, however Gaara's will be the only team to join us out front. The other ones will check everywhere else around the train as well as inside, and someone will be watching us to see if we'll need reinforcements."

"Why hasn't the group made a move yet?" Sakura asked. "Wouldn't they have attacked the train instead of just standing in front of it?"

"They must know we're aboard and they're waiting for us to engage them instead of the other way around."

"But then if what you're saying is true, that would mean that their only interested in us not any of the students," Naruto said.

Before anyone could answer him, the sand siblings appeared out of the fog.

"Let's go kick some ass then," Temari said as she continued walking forward, slower however than the speed at which her and her brothers had arrived.

"Do we have a plan?" Kankuro asked.

"I was thinking since there are seven of them and seven of us, we'll start by taking one each. If they don't seem to enjoy that and start teaming up on any of us, we'll react accordingly," Kakashi answered lightly as everyone began to walk forward, but even as he spoke, he lifted his forehead protector - which he had put on upon enetering the train - up, revealing his one sharingan eye.

Sasuke also activated his sharingan and Gaara uncorked his gourd of sand. Kankuro readied his puppet which he had unpacked and Temari undid the bow that she had been using to hold her fan closed. Naruto drew a few kunai from a concealed pouch and held them in his mouth while he prepared to perform the kage bunshin no jutsu and Sakura gathered chakra to her fist.

The seven of them were ready to face whatever danger lay ahead.

* * *

Pakkun ran down the length of the train slowing when he smelt many familiar scents gathered in one place. He stopped only when he was on top of a hatch that opened into the hallway of the train and pawed at the tightly sealed door. It opened slowly, but when the person underneath saw who was there, she opened her arms and invited him to jump down. 

Everyone down in the train stared blankly at Hinata as she opened the hatch on the roof cautiously, smiled, then spread her arms wide beckoning to whoever had been scratching on the sealed door. Pakkun jumped down into her arms where she started scratching in between his ears.

"Tsunade," the dog barked. Everyone, including Tsunade, immediately focused their attention on Pakkun and he continued to speak. "There are seven enemies - three shinobis and four wizards we believe - blocking the train's path. Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto are already near the front of the train and are waiting for some help."

"What?" Tsunade all but yelled at the little dog.

"Tsunade," Gai tried to soothe her.

"How can there possibly be other shinobis here?" Kiba asked.

"If I knew, I would tell you, but seeing as how I don't actually know, I can't. Anyways," Pakkun continued before anyone could interrupt him again, "Kakashi thinks it would be best if Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro join them up front where they plan to engage the enemy. He suggests that everyone else patrol around the back and sides of the train as well as aboard it, so that we can make sure those seven are the only ones who intend to bother us."

"There should be a scout up front too," Asuma added, "someone to make sure that backup is sent if the other two teams fail."

"I was getting to that," Pakkun growled under his breath.

"Don't worry, we won't," Gaara stated, then disappeared rapidly out of the open hatch, followed by Kankuro and Temari.

"Hinata and Kiba will watch the front," Kurenai stated as the sand siblings disappeared, "Hinata has the byakugan and Kiba will be able to find us rapidly if necessary. I'll stay with Shino and we'll cover the inside of the train."

"My team will take the sides," Gai quipped in, "Neji will be able to see further out with his byakugan."

"My team will take the back then," Asuma finished, "there are more shadows back there anyways, so if we need to stall Shikamaru will be able to use his technique more effectively."

"I'll go with Gai's team then," Tsunade added, "they have more of an area to cover and with more people we'll finish faster. Oh and Pakkun."

"What?" the dog groaned.

"Did Kakashi tell you what to do after you had informed us of the conditions we were under?"

"No...," Pakkun answered reluctantly.

"Then you'll go with Asuma," Tsunade told him. "Alright everyone, let's go, and hope Kakashi and those guys deal with everything up front quickly enough."

"We should meet back here after we've all swept our areas," Gai added before everyone could disappear, "if Kakashi and them haven't finished up front yet and we go join them, they could be distracted from the battle."

"Of course," Tsunade said, "now let's go."

And with that everyone disappeared to their positions.

* * *

After Sakura had sprinted out the door, it looked like Naruto wasn't sure whether to follow or not. Instead of running out the door however, he opened the window in the compartment, and stepped out onto the side of the train. 

"Well are you two coming or not?" he asked Ino and Shikamaru.

"Yeah yeah, just go already," Ino said.

"Later Harry," Naruto called as he ran horizontally down the train.

"I guess we should be going then too," Ino stated. "Nice to meet you Harry."

"See ya," Shikamaru said as he waited for Ino to step out the window. Then he muttered something under his breath that sounded strangely like the word troublesome and stepped out behind Ino. Shutting the window before he ran down the side of the train.

Harry just sat in his chair stunned. Still completely stupefied by what he had just been shown and what he had seen earlier. These people could walk on walls. They could perform wandless magic. That was something that he had never even considered.

As he sat there pondering all of this, the door to his compartment opened and Hermione and Ron walked in.

"Hey Harry, what's up?" Ron asked as he took a seat next to his friend.

Hermione sat across from him and noticed that he had a sort of confused expression on his face. "Harry what's wrong?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing really," Harry started. Then, "Have you ever heard of wandless magic Hermione?"

"Well not really," she answered truthfully, wondering from what event Harry could possibly have drawn this idea from. "I mean I guess it could possible, but I can't imagine a wizard who only uses wandless magic. If one could I would suspect that he wouldn't be able to use it all the time but only for some of the more basic spells. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason really. It just kind of popped into my head when I was sitting here is all," Harry answered her. "So why's the train stopped?"

"Actually no one knows. Not even the conductor," Ron quipped in. "We asked him what was up and he said that the train was still running, it just wasn't moving."

"An owl's been sent to Dumbledore. It's probably just one of the spells that's been cast on the track acting up," Hermione said calmly.

"Oh," was all Harry had to say in response.

A moment of silence followed Harry's simple and short statement. Then footsteps were heard running down the hall.

"Oh joy," Ron said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "now I get to tell more kids to calm down and go back to their rooms."

He stood up and moved to the door and opened it a crack sticking his head out and peering down the hallway. However he didn't see anyone or anything that could possibly have made the footsteps. He pulled his head back in and slid the door shut turning to look confusedly at Hermione and Harry.

"You heard those footsteps too right? I'm not going crazy?" he asked.

"There was no one there?" Harry asked.

"Nope. The hall was completely empty. Everyone's in their compartments like we told them to be."

"That's really weird," Hermione stated.

"Let's go check it out," Harry said in response to Hermione's statement.

Though the other two were a bit reluctant to agree, they both accepted Harry's suggestion when he pulled out his invisibility cloak. They threw it over themselves and stepped out into the hall, closing their compartment door quietly behind them. They walked slowly down the hall, not daring to make any more noise than whatever soft whispering was created by their breathing.

As they neared the front of the train they could see the trolley lady and the conductor talking to each other about how strange the situation was, through a crack in their compartment door. They continued to move froward until Harry suddenly stopped and motioned to two figures crouched in the engine room of the Hogwarts Express staring out the front window. The three looked at each other and a silent agreement was made to continue forward, however when they tried to step closer to see who was there something on top of one of the figures heads turned to face them and growled.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately froze in their tracks and tried to listen to what one of the figures was saying to the growling thing, but they couldn't make out a single word from the distance they were at. Again, they tried to step forward but the little thing growled again. The one figure spoke to the figure crouched next to it and Harry managed to catch one word. Byakugan.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't see anything behind us?" Kiba asked Hinata again. 

"Kiba, there is nothing that I can possibly see with my byakugan behind us," Hinata told her friend a bit exasperated.

"But then why's Akamaru been growling?" he asked her.

"Kiba, how am I supposed to know?" she asked him in return. "He's your dog."

It was easy for her to talk to him. She had known him for a long while now, and after suffering through Kurenai's tough training together, he had become one of the first few people with whom she could talk freely and easily.

The two of them turned to stare out the window again. Hinata keeping the byakugan activated. The fight in front of them had yet to start and she was nervous for all of her friends. Akamaru had already told Kiba, who had told her, that the guys in front of them were strong, and that hadn't helped her nerves a single bit, even though she knew her friends were all strong as well.

"Will they be okay?" she asked Kiba without turning to look at him.

"Hinata, they're all strong and they're all smart and I know that they're all going to be okay. Okay?" he told her.

"Okay," she said with a confidence induced by Kiba's own confidence in their comrades. They would all be fine. Naruto would be fine.

* * *

Authoress' Notes: By the way, I am aware that I haven't focused like at all on Naruto and Sasuke, however, once they get to Hogwarts and after the sorting, the focus will shift mainly to team seven, and Naruto and Sasuke will have a lot more...face time? I haven't really done a good job of including them as of yet but I will be fixing that soon. So sorry to all you, Naruto and Sasuke fans. And to all you Sakura fans...don't worry. She will still have a big role, I'm not going to banish her character to a closet somewhere...I'm just letting a few out. 


	6. Arrival at Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: Well, sadly I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter, these wonderful creations belong to some fabulous authors...I have no intention of ever attempting to make any money off of this.**

**Authoress' Notes: Alright...so you've all been waiting ages for this new chapter and I've kept you waiting for months...many months. Okay, well maybe some of you have been waiting ages for my latest chappie...I mean I have gotten my share of threatening e-mails telling me to update so you can all thank those who have the guts to tell me to "update or else"...give them a cookie or something because it is thanks to them that I finally got up and wrote a new chapter. So what happened to me? Well if you care, firstly I lost my outline...yes...my bible...I lost it so I kind of gave up on the story for a bit as I didn't remember all the details I wanted to include, secondly...I'm simply lazy, thirdly my parents limited my time on the computer...but now that I failed an English test they consider writing my story studying...heehee...YAY! So hopefully I'll be able to update more freely and more often now...but cross your fingers. Now wish me luck. We're live in 3...2...1...ACTION!**

* * *

"I've changed my mind," Kakashi told the teens walking behind him. "I'll go first and try... well... to do something. Then you six will follow when I give the signal. 

"Which is what exactly?" Temari asked Kakashi.

"How about green sparks," he answered. "So you'll all stay here?" he then asked making sure that the others understood that he didn't want them coming with him.

Gaara sighed, "I don't like it but, I'll agree...this time,"he told Kakashi. _"And really what power do you have to order me around?" he thought. _

"Anyone else have anything to say then? No? Good. I figure that the added element of surprise should give us the boost we need to finish this quickly."

Then Kakashi disappeared, leaping off the front of the train into the thick fog and out of the young shinobis' sights.

"Why would he go off by himself? There are seven enemies, he's even using his sharingan...that can't possibly be safe. I mean we could surround them and come at them from all sides at once if what he wanted was a surprise attack," Sakura expressed.

"You're talking about Kakashi here. He knows what he's doing," Naruto told her.

* * *

"What am I doing?" Kakashi asked himself as he jumped in front of the train to confront whoever was there, "this is probably my worst idea yet." 

He kept walking forward until the fog started to thin and he was able to see a single person standing in the distance with a wand out. He stopped moving and waited. Eventually six other cloaked figures came out from the cloudy mist. They lined up in front of the single person and removed their hoods. Kakashi didn't recognize any of them as Death Eaters from the pictures Dumbledore had provided for him, and he didn't recognize any of them as shinobis either.

One of them took a step towards him, pulling out his wand as he moved.

"What do you think is stopping me from killing you right now?" the man drawled. "Do you think you could possibly stand up to all of us? One "ninja", against four wizards and three of your own. There's no way that you can possibly beat us."

He laughed and took aim at Kakashi. Kakashi didn't even flinch. He coughed, clearing his throat, and raised his hand sheepishly like a little boy would in school.

This caused the man to laugh yet again as he turned to look at all his companions. However he immediately stopped when he turned around and saw Kakashi had not yet lowered his hand. "What?" the man barked, "do you have to go to the bathroom or something?"

"Actually I was wondering if I could get out my wand so that this would at least be a bit fairer of a fight," Kakashi answered.

"You know what? Go for it. It's not like you could actually do any damage with it," the man sneered. His companions laughed as though the man had said something extraordinarily clever.

Kakashi ignored them all however, and reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out the wand that Dumbledore had given him. Then as he brought it up to point it at the man he fumbled with it and dropped it. Causing it to emit green sparks in every direction. The men across from him laughed cruelly. But only moments after they had started, a shinobi fell to the ground with a kunai embedded in his neck. The laughter immediately ceased.

"Score one for me!" Naruto yelled as he appeared at Kakashi's side.

Then, as if they had always been there, Sasuke, Sakura, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro melted out of the fog so that they were in line with Kakashi.

"You honestly think that a bunch of kids are actually going to be able to help you?" the man who appeared to be their leader said. "Ha! We'll crush you like the annoying little bugs you are."

"You are really getting on my nerves," Sakura said as she sent her fist flying into the ground, causing an enormous crater - which missed the train tracks by a few calculated centimeters - to form. "Would you just shut up?" she finished.

The opposing force stared at Sakura in awe.

"You should pay more attention to what's going on around you," Sasuke stated calmly as he appeared behind one of the shinobi and embedded a few shuriken in his back and neck - effectively killing him.

One of the wizards immediately spun around and fired a spell at Sasuke in retaliation, but Sasuke easily dodged the jet of light - that moved at a speed easily avoided by anyone trained to control chakra flow to their feet. As Sasuke attempted to get away from the light beams that were being fired rapidly at him, Temari drew her fan and flapped it, creating a strong gust of wind that not only knocked the men off their feet but stopped the flow of spells that were being fired after Sasuke.

As soon as the men were down, the group of shinobi moved in using the lack of attention to their advantage. Sand encased one shinobi and then rapidly killed him as Gaara employed his desert coffin technique. He looked at the slightly stained pile of sand with a blank expression on his face and then started walking back towards the train as the sand began to slowly return to his gourd .

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke had immediately started fighting two of the wizards. Naruto was trying to get close enough to one to use rasengan but every time he was within range, the wizard would fire a spell and then he would have to get out of the way. Sasuke, meanwhile, was also trying to incapacitate one of the wizards, but was having about as much luck. He tried to get close enough to use chidori but the wizard would just send a spell flying at him and Sasuke would have to dodge.

"These guys are firing those beams way too fast," Naruto exclaimed when he and Sasuke took a moment to regroup, "we can't get close enough to them to do any real damage."

"Wait for my signal and then use your kage bunshin no jutsu, Naruto," Sasuke told him.

Then the two teens began fighting back to back as the wizards circled around them. Sasuke trying to nail them with his katon goya no jutsu and Naruto throwing whatever he could find...shuriken, kunai, and rocks alike, at the wizards as he waited for Sasuke's signal.

While this was going on Kankuro had yelled to Sakura to go try and hold the train in place his reasoning being "just in case something happens cause we all need to get on and that's not going to be easy if the bloody train is moving". He had a sinking feeling that when he took out the wizard that was seemingly keeping the train from moving with a spell, the train would start going forward again...maybe too quickly.

"I doubt that the train'll start moving, and if it does I really don't think that I'm going to be able to hold it for long, if at all!" she cried.

Kankuro fully ignored her and approached the wizard who barely acknowledged his advancing presence. His fight didn't last long. Actually, the outcome to Kankuro's fight was decided practically the second it had started. Before the wizard could do so much as utter a spell, Kankuro immediately used the poisonous gases from one of his puppets to paralyze her. Then before he had a chance to finish the woman off, Temari appeared and threw a kunai, that she had found on the ground, at the wizard, which hit her right in the heart.

Throughout this, Kakashi had been busy fighting the one wizard who had seemed to be the leader of the small group. He was easily dodging all the spells that were fired at him, but since he was focusing on the dodging, he wasn't able to focus on any effective and strong offensive attacks.

Suddenly, a shrill shriek startled every single person within the vicinity. All heads turned to Sakura who was pushing against the train her feet planted firmly to the ground using chakra and her hands glowing brightly from the amount of chakra she had gathered in them. The wheels on the train were spinning in place and Sakura's feet were beginning to slide forward...quickly.

"Hurry up!" she screamed, "we gotta clear out now and get back on this train! I can't hold it!"

Upon her exclamation, sand flew through the air and created dense blocks that partially incased the wheels on the front car. Everyone could see the wheels straining to turn against the sand, and it looked like the blocks weren't going to last long.

"Now's a good time, Naruto," Sasuke stated.

Within seconds, fifty other Narutos appeared out of thin air, and began simultaneously attacking the two wizards that Sasuke and Naruto were fighting. What few actually got hit by spells simply disappeared. The others landed enough blows to bring down both wizards. As Sasuke and Naruto approached to deliver the final blows however, the wizards promptly disapparated, leaving behind small puddles of their blood. They both stared for a second at the empty spaces that were before them, then ran over to where Kakashi and the others stood. Kakshi had taken advantage of Sakura's distracting shriek to throw a shuriken at the wizard he was fighting. It embedded itself in his throat and killed him.

"I guess we should probably go now," Temari said.

"That might be a good idea," said a panting Sakura. The sand blocks then suddenly broke and Sakura stood in front of the train, her feet sliding backwards now at a fairly fast speed. Everyone ran hurriedly towards the nearest door onto the train and climbed aboard. Sakura, seeing that everyone was on board gave the train a giant shove backwards which stalled it in place for a moment, then hopped onto the front before it came at her, planting her feet firmly on the surface of it with the little chakra she had left. Before she could try to get inside the train however, she wobbled and lost her footing, but Sasuke appeared beside her, and grabbed her, pulling her inside with him.

"Good work everybody," Kakashi said as he finally covered his eye with his mask, "it's a shame we didn't get anyone to interrogate, but I'm sure we'll have another opportunity some time during this mission."

Suddenly, a bark erupted from a closet right next to where the group of shinobi were standing. Then, the door burst open and Akamaru, Kiba and Hinata tumbled out. Kiba grinned up at the group sheepishly and laughed.

"Hey!" he said as he stood up brushing himself off. Following his lead, Hinata did the same, though unlike Kiba, she was turning a deep shade of scarlet.

"What the heck happened?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you see, when the train started making funny noises like it was straining against something to move, the conductor and the trolley lady came out of their compartment to check out what was going on," Kiba started.

"We...we managed to hide in the closet before...be...before they saw us," Hinata continued. "A- and I don't think they saw anything that was going on outside because of the fog."

"Well that's good then. I guess we should head back now and see if the others made it back onto the train," Kankuro stated as he started making his way down the corridor.

Everyone followed him in silence, still mulling over the events that had just passed. Why had the men wanted to fight them? How were shinobi among their midst? Why had it been, in the end, so easy?

As they approached their rooms, they could see a fairly large crowd gathered there. "Nice to see you all made it back safe and sound," Tsunade stated fairly cheerfully all things considering.

"I'm going to assume that you all found nothing?" Sasuke stated, yet somehow asked at the same time.

"Well I guess you would assume right then," Asuma said, "since there really wasn't anything to be found."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he supported an exhausted Sakura with Hinata's help.

"We found absolutely nothing," Shikamaru stated. "Not a single trace of the men up front, nor of any back-up. They acted alone, planned poorly, and seemingly appeared out of nowhere."

"Did you get a chance to question any of them?" Kurenai asked.

"Not exactly," Gaara answered, "I mean, it wouldn't really have been convenient to bring one aboard the train and it's not like there was all that much time to question them outside. Sakura and myself were holding the train in place, and at the speeds at which it travels, if she had let go, we all wouldn't have been able to get on board...at least not easily, especially with our depleted chakra from the fight."

Chouji looked up at the people around him, and then everyone heard his stomach audibly growl. "Can we rest...and eat now?" he asked.

"Yes! Let's all rest so that our flames of youth may burn brighter than ever!" Gai yelled.

Everyone groaned at Gai's happy and energetic outburst, but they all agreed that now was probably as good a time as any to rest. There would be time later to discuss the events of that evening. So with those thoughts, the teams retired to their compartments and everyone took up some form of rest.

* * *

Harry, Hermione, and Ron had tried to listen to everything that the two mysterious figures in front of them were talking about, but they hadn't been able to catch more than a few words. After what seemed like hours of waiting silently...hoping to learn what was going on...the train suddenly lurched a few meters forward only to stop again. The door, to the room where the conductor and the trolley lady were, flung open and Harry, Ron, and Hermione froze in panic. Though the hallways were fairly wide, there was no way that the conductor would be able to walk past them without hitting one of them. 

They looked at each other and sprinted down the hall back towards their room, not stopping until they had shut the door safely behind them. Luckily, the conductor only emerged from his room after they had passed. They fell onto their seats panting.

"That was too close," Hermione said when they had all calmed down.

"What? Almost getting caught by the freakish monsters?" Harry asked.

"Or almost getting caught by the troll?" Ron added. "Ow. I mean the trolley lady, yes I know she's a very nice person."

Harry laughed when he saw the look Hermione was giving Ron. Hermione turned her gaze to Harry though and Harry quickly shut up much to Ron's delight. Then however, the train lurched forward again and the three were thrown off their seats which caused them all to laugh.

"See," Hermione said after she had finished giggling, "there was no real problem, we're already moving again."

"But honestly, what could have caused the train to stop moving in the first place...it couldn't possibly have been any of Dumbledore's spells Hermione. I mean the train's never stopped before...has it?" Ron asked.

"Well...no. Not to my knowledge anyways," Hermione answered. Her and Ron continued to discuss what had just happened while Harry sat silently in his seat, deep in thought. This had never happened before according to his friends. But...well it couldn't really have anything to do with them...could it? The foreign exchange students, who performed wandless magic (he still couldn't quite believe that), could not possibly be the cause...could they? But strange new things were already starting to happen if the train's sudden stop was any indication...and the school year hadn't even technically started yet!

"Harry!...HARRY!" someone shouted...and then Harry was quickly startled out of his reverie.

"What?" he asked feigning complete innocence to whatever crime they would accuse him of commiting.

"Weren't you listening to a word we were saying?" Ron asked him.

"Well..."Harry grinned sheepishly since in fact he hadn't been listening...at all.

"Ron and I were just saying that isn't it strange how this year the train just up and stopped and how this year, we also have foreign exchange students attending Hogwarts," Hermione informed him.

"Oh. Well yes...I guess it's a bit strange," Harry answered sounding completely uncommitted even though moments ago he had been considering the exact same thing. He was too busy looking out the window where an owl was trying its best to keep up with the train. An owl that happened to have a letter attached to its leg.

"Harry what's wrong?" Ron asked.

"Hmm? Oh nothing, umm, maybe you could open up the window though. There's kind of this owl outside and I think it may want to come in."

Hermione glanced at the window and saw the owl trying to perch on the thin window sill. She ran to the window and threw it open. The owl immediately flew inside and landed on Harry's lap. After a minute spent catching its breath and regaining its composure, the owl stuck out its leg, offering the letter tied to it to Harry.

Harry reached for the note and looked at the plain seal wondering who it could be from.

"Well don't just keep staring at it," Ron urged. "Open it."

Harry broke the seal on the envelope and opened it to reveal a slip of brightly coloured paper.

"What does it say Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Oh right," Harry began, "Sorry about that." He then read the letter aloud;

_Dear Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger,_

_Please do not be alarmed by the event that just transpired concerning the Hogwarts Express. It was a simple problem that was quickly and efficiently dealt with and one that shall no longer plague you or your fellow passengers. Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger I ask that you please inform the students that there is no reason to panic and that you will be arriving at Hogwarts shortly practically right on schedule. My deepest apologies for the confusion this temporary pause in your journey may have caused you._

Best wishes.

_A.D._

"Who's it from?" Ron asked his best friend.

"It's signed A.D.," Harry stated.

The three sat in silence pondering the content of the letter and the mysterious sender..A.D...Albus Dumbledore? until the owl hooted. "Oh you must be hungry!" Hermione exclaimed, "after trying to keep with the train you poor thing let's see if we can find you something...oh how's this?" she continued as she found an owl treat in Ron's suitcase.

"Maybe we should do as the letter says and tell everyone on the train not to worry," Ron stated.

"That might be a good idea," Harry quipped in, "I still hear some screams and I'm sure the first years are in hysterics." They all laughed. "And I'll help out too so that you guys finish faster," he added. The friends stood up, smiling, and walked out of the compartment into the hall.

* * *

"Hey! Hinata!" Naruto called out when he saw the girl exit her compartment and come into the hallway where he had been sitting...resting...well...actually, he was hiding from Kankuro seeing as how he had switched his face paint with Sakura's makeup. He was bored after all and wanted to have a bit of fun. Now the puppet master, however, was out for blood...Naruto's blood specifically...seeing as how he had put on the makeup without even noticing it was the wrong colour. The worst part was...Kankuro could now not get the makeup off. 

A crash sounded in one of the compartments as Kankuro no doubt threw something at, well, something else..._"or maybe someone else,"Naruto thought giddily as he heard a shriek and then a slap_. Hinata flinched slightly and then stared at the boy on the floor...who was grinning up at her with his signature smile. She smiled nervously back at him. "He...hel..h-hi Naruto," she said softly.

"Why are you coming out here?" he asked her.

"Oh," she answered, "I just...sort of wanted t-to be by myself for a bit... Ino and TenTen are in the compartment with Neji and Kiba and they're trying to f-fix Neji's h-hair. I-it's getting a bit loud."

"Oh, well then I'll just get out of here and go back inside the compartment and talk to Sakura or Sasuke or something," Naruto said as he stood up and turned away from Hinata to head back to his room.

"N-no! Wait," Hinata said quietly a blush creeping onto her cheeks. But Naruto heard her and turned around. She looked at the floor before speaking again, "I w-wouldn't m-mind if you st-stayed."

Naruto smiled again and sat back down, beckoning to Hinata to come join him. She counted to five silently in her head, working up the courage to go sit next to him and just as she was taking her first step towards the yellow haired boy a door flung open and Kankuro's menacing voice could be heard by all the shinobi as he screamed. "There you are you no good..." but the rest of his words were lost as Naruto jumped up, waved to Hinata, and then ran down the hall laughing...a pink and purple faced Kankuro on his heels.

Hinata let out a small sigh and then sat down where she was. _"So close," she thought_._ "Now if only I could work up my courage just a little bit quicker."_

* * *

The train finally pulled into the Hogsmeade station, the whistle giving a final loud sigh and the wheels screeching to a stop. A cheer could be heard coming from the students rejoicing in the fact that they had finally reached their destination. Then the doors opened and everyone poured out taking in the scene of bustling students trying to get into carriages up near the front of the pack. 

"Firs' years over here...firs' years!" An enormous man called over the noise being created by all of the eager Hogwarts students. Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached the man to say their hellos.

"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed. "It's nice to see you again."

"Same here Harry!" the giant bellowed. "And a hello to you too Hermione...Ron," the giant added.

"Hey Hagrid," Hermione chimed.

"We'll see you later Hagrid...we have to go get in a carriage now before we get stuck in one with a looney or worse...Malfoy," Ron exclaimed

"I'll talk to yer later then...Firs' years...firs' years over here!"

"Hey Hagrid!" another voice yelled from clear across the other side of the platform.

"Naruto! Glad to see you and yer friends made it to the platform and onto the train okay," the giant yelled right back. "Ye'll have to come visit me sometime in my hut on the grounds."

"Will do!" the blond boy shouted back as he was pulled along by his friends who were intently following the crowd towards a cluster of carriages.

"What are those things?" TenTen suddenly asked her teammates and friends. They all followed her gaze and saw the creatures she was talking about. Their black skin clung to their bones making them appear absolutely starved and their white eyes, set in dragon like heads, looked as all-knowing as a Hyuugas'. But worst of all must of been their wings. Enormous leathery wings that resembled a bat's.

The shinobi looked around to see that all the carriages were pulled by these strange beasts...however all the rest of the students were acting as if there was nothing there. Well that wasn't quite true. The boy, Harry Potter seemed to be taking them in with the same awe that they were, but his friends didn't seem to notice the horselike beings at all.

"They're called Thestrals," a voice echoed in their heads, "the only people who can see them are those who have seen someone die."

Gai whipped around on the spot looking for the mysterious speaker as the others giggled at his behaviour. "It must be some sort of spell," Shikamaru stated with a smile, itching to grace his face, playing at the corners of his mouth, "because I would recognize that old man's voice anywhere," he continued.

Seeing that everyone else was climbing into the carriages, the shinobis followed suit. Sasuke was the last to climb in with his teammates. Before Dumbledore had even told the group what the mysterious creatures were through whatever spell, Sasuke had approached one and had started gently petting its neck as he had looked into its blank eyes.

"Come on teme!" Naruto called.

Sasuke gave a hmph of indignation, but then wordlessly he climbed into the carriage with his teammates. And then they were off. Only a short carriage ride away from Hogwarts.

* * *

As the Hogwarts students climbed out of the carriages they were greeted by falling rain. Everyone rushed to get inside the dry safety of the castle walls and roof so the Great Hall filled immediately with boisterous students who were ringing out wet robes and hair. However several of the carriage riders were not amongst the bustling students. They waited in the hall where the first years would be arriving shortly as they too would be sorted tonight. 

"Do we have to do this...I mean it sounds completely ridiculous," Kiba complained to the old woman who had just explained to the shinobi the ceremony of the Sorting Hat.

"Can't we just enter and eat like everyone else and skip the whole hat thing?" Naruto complained just as loudly.

"No," the woman replied firmly, "as students...yes...Mr. Nara even as temporary students," she added upon seeing Shikamaru's look, "you will be sorted into houses like everyone else here."

"I'm sorry Professor McGonnagall. We completely understand that the whole Sorting Hat ordeal is completely necessary," Sakura said.

"Ms. Haruno, I have a feeling that we'll get along quite nicely," Professor McGonnagall told the young girl.

The shinobi tried to cover up their giggles and smiles and Sakura was about to smack the lot of them when the doors to the room they were in burst open and the little first years streamed in.

"Ah. Our new students have finally arrived," Professor McGonnagall spoke as the newly arrived congregation of eleven year old wizards and witches gathered in the room. "Alright," she continued as the doors closed behind the last first year, a boy soaking wet...presumably from having been out in the rain the longest, "you will now be sorted into your houses. The whole process is quite simple. You will all follow me...no not your group Mr. Nara...and then I will call you up one by one and the Sorting Hat will tell you all what house you ought to be in. Simple enough really. Now follow me."

Another set of doors opened and Professor McGonnagall walked out, the first years trailing behind her. When the last one, again the soaking little boy passed through the doors, they slammed closed, leaving the shinobi alone.

"Alright everyone," Shikamaru started, as he had been the one left in charge, "we'll do this exactly as planned. Tsunade gave Professor McGonnagall the list with our names written down in the proper order and fashion. So when you exit this room you will..."

"Look. Basically, just do everything right or I'll knock you in the head," Temari interrupted not really wanting to listen to Shikamaru drill them.

The girls laughed and congratulated Temari for her brief and effective way of summing up Shikamaru's speech, then they lapsed into a silence as they waited for their turn to get sorted. After a long time there was finally a noise within the room and then the creak of a hinge could be heard as the doors Professor McGonnagall had passed through earlier started to slowly creep open...

* * *

**Authoress' Notes: Sorry again about the delay. I hope you like it. I tried to catch any spelling and grammar mistakes...but I'm only human. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up within a month at most. Thanks to all my readers who have remained faithful and who continue to read this story despite the authoress' long absence. Cookies for all...and maybe even a new chapter if you're lucky. Sorry if it's not what you expected. Next time...the presentation of the shinobi to the school...what can possibly happen?**


	7. An Oddly Interesting Sorting Ceremony

**Disclaimer: Well, sadly I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter. These wonderful creations belong to some fabulous authors...I have no intention of ever attempting to make any money off of this.**

**Authoress' Notes: Yay. New chapter! Finally is what I'm sure y'all who haven't abandoned me are thinking. I know I said one month or something like that anyways...and at the time I meant it...but things happen...exams come up, people go on summer vacation out of the country for a month and a half. And now it's been like what??? Half a year? Close to there? Sorry is all I can say to those of you who are still with me despite my absolutely awful updating habits. So this time I won't make any promises...but I will try very very hard to get new chapters up faster. Just send me messages reminding me to do so if I'm not...cause that's what got me going again. The messages and reviews from everyone telling me to update. It was just such a reminder and so there that I actually manage to sit down in front of my computer after being on vacation in Europe and just write.**

**Now...I do have to say that I absolutely hate this chapter though. I've gone over it...but there's simply nothing I want to change...and despite that I still hate this chapter with a passion. It's boring. I wrote it horrendously and I can't think of a way to make it better. And it seems so...blah. I'm not all too proud of it...and if you feel the same way...feel free to tell me so. But I am going to post it. Maybe someday I will come back and rewrite it so I enjoy it more. And for all I know...y'all might not find it as horrible as I do. But we won't know will we until you read the chapter. Hopefully the next one will be so much better (and will come out much quicker).  
**

**Well, cookies for all of you who reviewed last time...maybe a few more people will this time? Anyways I know in my last chapter I wrote that it was the first time that the train had stopped...a lovely reviewer (Madness Lover) however reminded me of the time the train stopped in Harry's third year to let the Dementors on. I guess I should have been a bit clearer...what I meant for Harry, Hermione, and Ron to be thinking about was that it was the first time the train had up and stopped for no reason.****Also, the reason those three think of the new students when discussing the event is because they have already been thrust into their life before the school year's even started. Harry even got a very little demonstration of their capabilities on the train. They're in awe of them...weirded out by them...and wondering why the heck there are even foreign exchange students at Hogwarts...So anyways, I believe that is all I have to say so...Oh...nope. In response to sillymail's review...Oops...I made a BIG mistake...I have a list with important details like that written down...except I thought I was being smart and saving time by not checking it...my memory's not all that great apparently. So for all of those who actually read the Author's Notes...yes I know Sasuke's jutsu is called...Katon: Goyaku no jutsu. I just didn't write that cause I didn't bother checking to see if it was actually right. Boy do I feel stupid now. Yeah really stupid. Now, however I will do that. I made a list...I might as well use it. **

**One more quick note. This is just a reminder that recent events in the manga will not change the course this story is heading. Seeing as how I started it ages ago before much happened in the manga I can not really change the story to suit the manga...as many of you probably realize...what with recent...shall I say it...deaths. So I guess my story is sort of AU...I think...is that the term I'm looking for???**

**Now. Finally. We're live in 3...2...1...ACTION!**

* * *

Harry, Hermione, and Ron took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table and quickly started catching up with friends and talking about their Summer vacations. 

"Oi Harry!" Neville called.

"Hey Neville! How was your Summer?" Harry asked.

"Too long," the boy groaned, "my gran spent the entire vacation telling me how amazing "that Harry Potter" is and asking why I couldn't be more like him. She'd do anything to have you as a grandson." Neville laughed.

Harry laughed as well. "Well you were there too Neville. You're telling me your grandmother didn't go on about that?"

"Oh she did!" Neville exclaimed. "Told everyone who would listen. She even got me a new wand and said that she was so proud of me."

"That's really great Nev-" Harry was suddenly interrupted by Dumbledore's voice as it echoed across the Great Hall. The first years had marched in and lined up in front of the staff table while everyone was still talking and as Harry's eyes traveled to the front of the hall, his gaze went straight to a little boy who was as wet as if he had just fallen into the lake and who was shivering...either from being cold or from nerves.

"Students. Young and old. I know that you are all anxious to get on with the feast so let's get straight to the sorting shall we? Mr. Filch the Sorting Hat."

Harry watched as Mr. Filch approached the front and set the hat and its stool down gingerly in front of the row of first year students and then scurried back to his place by a back exit. The second the Great Hall was in complete silence, a rip in the Sorting Hat opened up and everyone could hear it clearing its throat. And then the song.

The students applauded at the end as was custom, however whispers could be heard throughout the Hall as the students made comments about the Hat's strange song. It usually only described the traits that were sought after by each of the houses, however this year the hat had given a warning and advice to the Hogwarts population. Voldemort was rising in power. The houses would have to stand by each other and stay strong.

"How many times do you reckon the hat's done that?" Ron asked his friends.

"Deviating a bit from the norm isn't it?" Harry added.

"I think the hat's been know to warn the school when it feels that the students are in danger," Hermione stated. "I believe I read it in Hogwarts; A History."

"She's right you know," Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost stated as he floated past where the friends sat. "Once in..." he trailed off as Professor McGonagall asked for silence.

"Quiet everyone!" she yelled. When the muttering in the hall subsided, Professor McGonagall stared at each of the house tables, a dirty look on her face until she was sure that all whispering had ceased. "That's better," she said when she had the silence she wanted from the Great Hall. She unrolled a long sheet of parchment and glanced down at it, clearing her throat.

"Arak, Jason."

The little boy who had been shaking, and who still looked as if he had braved the storm outside for hours instead of minutes, took a few steps toward the stool and then stopped. He turned back to face the rest of the first years and another young boy gave him an encouraging smile. Jason Arak put on a brave face and walked towards the stool. McGonagall lifted the hat and placed it on its head. A surprised look fell onto his face as the hat undoubtedly spoke to him. A few seconds passed and then the rip near the brim opened up again.

"Gryffindor."

Harry clapped loudly along with the rest of his housemates and congratulated the boy as he walked past. The rest of the sorting proceeded in the same way and whenever a student was sorted into Gryffindor, Harry clapped loudly and enthusiastically along with his friends. The line of first years students slowly thinned and finally 'Zeller, Rose' was sorted into Hufflepuff.

The students stared eagerly at the front now. Waiting for Dumbledore to tell them all to "tuck in". However he did not stand up and Professor McGonagall did not remove the stool. Instead she laid the large roll of parchment in her hands on the table behind her and reached for a much smaller one.

"Where are the foreign exchange students?" Harry whispered to Ron. "They didn't come out for the sorting with the first years."

"I don't know," he answered. "Maybe they're not getting sorted after all."

In the brief pause between the two scrolls, whispers had erupted across the Great Hall.

"I asked for silence did I not," Professor McGonagall spoke, her voice carrying across the room. There was immediate silence in the Great Hall. "Thank you."

Then, a whine was heard as the doors from which the first years had come began to open slowly once more. The lights in the Great Hall dimmed and Professor McGonagall glanced down at her list again. "Ah yes," began Dumbledore who suddenly appeared next to a very startled McGonagall, "I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a large group of transfer students from Japan who will be attending Hogwarts this year and who will also be sorted into houses on this occasion. The rest of the staff and myself ask that you help them out if need be and that you respect their culture and their methods of magic."

At this statement a buzz of conversation once again graced the hall.

"What does he mean by "their methods of magic"?" Hermione asked the Gryffindors seated around her.

Everyone shrugged and glanced back up at McGonagall and Dumbledore, both of whom were waiting patiently this time for the din in the hall to die down with smiles on their faces. "I think it is high time we present to you the students of The Konoha School of Magic and Chakra," Dumbledore announced. "Professor McGonagall, if you would continue now with the sorting."

"Of course," she replied. She then lifted the list up high as a reminder to everyone to remain silent and looked at the first group of names upon it.

"Hyuga, Neji.

Rock, Lee.

TenTen."

The three shinobi stepped out of the shadows of the door, but the Hogwarts students and staff only managed to catch a glimpse of them before they disappeared.

"Where'd they go?" Dean asked completely dumbfounded.

"Look up!" was the excited response he got from a third year sitting to his right. Everyone looked up and what they saw was amazing, even in the wizarding world. TenTen was up in the air, near the ceiling of the hall, spinning around like some kind of top with two scrolls in her hands. Suddenly, she opened them and started grabbing weapons, that were seemingly popping out of thin air, and throwing them down to the ground aiming at...Neji? Neji was dodging each and every single weapon with such impossible grace. He was even managing to avoid the ones being thrown at his back where he couldn't possibly see them. All of a sudden the rain of weapons stopped and TenTen landed gracefully upon the ground.

However no one really noticed her landing as the second the weapons had stopped raining down Lee had launched himself from the sides at Neji, moving with such speed that it was nearly impossible to keep track of him. The two boys then started sparring, bending in unimaginable ways to avoid each others blows. A whistle sounded and the boys fight immediately ceased. They hadn't even broken a sweat. They went to stand with their teammate.

Before the students could so much as say a single word about the presentation they had just seen however, McGonagall went straight to the next group of names on her list.

"Aburame, Shino.

Hyuga, Hinata.

Inuzuka, Kiba."

This time however, the three members did not disappear immediately after leaving the dark safety of the shadows. They walked deliberately and slowly to the middle of the space left for them between the staff table and the students' tables. When the three were all standing in place a dull buzzing could be heard. The students glanced at each other in curiosity, but then suddenly a dense cloud formed underneath Shino and the students realized the buzzing was coming from it. The cloud flew up in the air, the buzzing coming from it getting louder and louder and then it disappeared along with its rider.

Then a bark was heard and an enormous dog ran out to the center of the floor where Kiba jumped on him. A moment later, the dog was no longer there and all anyone could see was two Kibas. Then they too disppeared leaving Hinata standing all by herself. She muttered a word under her breath and to those sitting nearest to her, her eyes appeared whiter than before. Suddenly, three knives came flying at her from different directions, one in her technical line of sight, two at her back. She leapt and grabbed the first one from mid air and then whipped around and blocked the other two, that she should not possibly have seen coming, out of the air.

Her teammates appeared again, Shino no longer on his cloud, and Kiba and Akamaru both looking as they should. Then they moved out of the way and went to stand with Gai's team.

McGonagall, as amazed as everyone else, did not skip a beat.

"Yamanaka, Ino.

Nara, Shikamaru.

Akimichi, Chouji."

What appeared to be an enormous ball rolled out from the door frame, creating an enormous wind that raged through the whole hall. The ball however did not continue on a straight path. It rolled forward, then backward. Bounced up, then made a wide circle. All while maintaining a constant rotation speed. All eyes were on the giant ball so no one noticed Shikamaru who walked silently into the hall from one side and Ino who walked in from the other side. All of a sudden, the rotating ball stopped and in a puff of smoke, Chouji appeared where it had been.

Then Shikamaru, now the center of everyone's attention made some shapes with his hands and everyone watched as a dark shadow stretched across the floor and joined itself with Ino's. Shikamaru then proceeded to lift his hands in the air...which Ino also did. He then put them down and lifted one leg...which Ino also did. He then proceeded to mess up his hair, which Ino did at the exact same time...though she did shriek something along the lines of inconsiderate jerk while doing so. The shadow then receded and Ino was free again. She then however started to make her own hand motions while Shikamaru stood perfectly still in front of her.

All of a sudden she slumped over, and would have hit her head on the floor had Chouji not caught her. There was an immediate hint of worry for Ino which was lost quickly as all were distracted by Shikamaru who then began to do pirouettes, the cancan, and the hokey pokey...which drew many giggles from the female population of Hogwarts. Then he sort of shivered and Ino stood up again and took a bow and let her voice carry across the hall. "Shikamaru's amazing dancing skills courtesy of Ino Yamanaka!" To which the girls of Hogwarts responded to with some whistling and clapping. The three man team walked to join the others, Shikamaru turning a bit red, Ino fixing her hair, and Chouji pulling out a bag of chips.

Though quite amused by the clownish, though impressive display, McGonagall continued with her task.

"Gaara.

Kankurou.

Temari."

Three people emerged from the shadows of the doorway and walked to the middle of the room. Then, sand flew from the gourd on Gaara's back and shot him up high in the air, where he hovered on his own homemade cloud. Kankurou then whipped the thing on his back to the ground and the bandages immediately fell from it as a huge...thing?...rose from the bundle. It looked almost like a puppet. Except for its size, most of the students of Hogwarts would have claimed that's exactly what it was. It then however seemed to charge at Temari, flying at her so quickly that it seemed she would not be able to dodge the puppet. And she did not even attempt to do so. Instead she pulled the fan from her back, whipped it open, and let a huge gust of wind rock the hall and knock the thing charging at her back at her brother.

But it never hit him. Gaara's sand had formed the shape of a hand and had grabbed a hold of the puppet inches from his brother's face. The sand then flew back into a descending Gaara's gourd which he corked, once the sand that had formed his cloud had also flown into it. The three then turned and walked to join everyone else.

McGonagall was trying to fix her own hair which Temari's wind had messed up when she realized it was time for her to call the last set of names.

"Haruno, Sakura.

Uchiha, Sasuke.

Uzumaki, Naruto."

Everyone waited for the last three to enter. But after a good ten seconds passed, there was still not a single new presence in the hall. At least that's what all the students thought. All of a sudden, Sakura poofed into the middle of the room her arms spread straight out at shoulder height. Then another two clouds were seen as her fellow exchange students, Sasuke and Naruto appeared. One standing on each of her arms. She stood there however, motionless, her arms as straight as they had been when no one was standing on them. The most intimidating part however, was that it seemed to require her absolutely no effort to maintain that pose. The boys jumped down and she walked backwards a bit to get out of their way.

Then Naruto's hands were moving...and all of a sudden there were ten of him. Sasuke however didn't waste a moment. As the nine fake Naruto's charged him, he made some hand movements of his own and then he was breathing fire onto the Naruto clones which disappeared in smoke. Still moving quickly, both made more hand signs and then charged at each other, bright balls glowing in their palms. The power of those orbs could be heard and felt by all the students. The collision of them was something that everyone was dreading as they knew by some instinct that the collision could not be something good.

But the collision never came. Sakura had run in between the two boys and had grabbed their wrists before the balls could be forced to touch one another. Holding onto their wrists tightly, she pulled the two boys with such force that they went flying through the air and would have surely dented the walls of the Great Hall had they not both nullified the power of the orbs that had lain in the palms of their hands and used their chakra to soften and control their landings. They ran gracefully down the walls to meet Sakura in the middle of the floor. As they then walked towards their companions, everyone thinking they were done, they turned back to face the hall and did some weird hand things in unity. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were no longer who the students saw standing in front of them. What they saw...no...who they saw were McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Hagrid. Everyone looked dumbfounded for a minute as they looked from the existing Dumbledore, Hagrid, and McGonagall to their replicas. Then as quickly as the three had changed, they changed back. A second of dumbfounded silence passed.

And then the Great Hall burst into applause.

Never had Hogwarts seen such a display. Not even during the Triwizard Tournament had the shows been so brilliant and odd. Harry stared at the new students with such awe. The little demonstration he had been provided on the Hogwarts Express had been nothing. Absolutely nothing compared to what he had just seen. This power that they had. It was so...unique, so...dangerous, so...weird.

"Bloody hell."

Harry turned to look at who had spoken only to see that it was his best friend Ron.

"That was...I don't even know what to say. That beats...anything I've ever seen before. How the hell did they do all of that? They didn't even have wands!" Ron exclaimed.

"Is this why you were asking about wandless magic Harry?" Hermione asked with a suspicious look on her face.

"Sort of," Harry replied as he grinned sheepishly.

"Silence...Silence please...Oh would you all just shut up?" McGonagall's voice carried throughout the entire hall. Everyone froze. "Thank you again. Now, we are almost done here so please be patient." She glanced at the scroll in her hands and read the first name.

"Aburame, Shino."

Shino walked up to the sorting hat. Wishing his family name started with any other letter than 'a'...he so hated how he had to go through this first. He went to sit down on the stool, and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. He all but jumped when it spoke to him.

"Hmmm...where to put someone like you? You are most definitely an intelligent fellow, and strategy is one of your stronger points...I say...RAVENCLAW!"

Shino stared at the hat as it was taken off his head with a look that no one could possibly comprehend...and then proceeded to walk to the table where the Ravenclaws were applauding happily to be the first house with one of the new additions.

"Akimichi, Chouji."

As McGonagall placed the hat on Chouji's head he was still munching on his chips. "I see you value your friendship with Shikamaru highly. It is what gives you your strength. You'd be best suited then, where I'm sure he will end up...RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table exploded into applause as Chouji walked over to take a seat next to Shino. McGonagall was already reading the next name.

"Gaara."

As the hat was placed on Gaara's head it smiled. "I know exactly who you are. And though I don't think the house you wish to be placed in suits you completely, I understand that is where you need to be so...SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin's clapped for the newcomer and Draco clapped the most enthusiastically as he approached Gaara...only to be completely ignored when he attempted to welcome him.

"Haruno, Sakura."

Sakura glanced back at her friends, and then at the hat with a nervous look in her eyes before she climbed the steps and sat herself down on the stool and gripped the edge of it. As the hat was placed on her head however, her grip relaxed.

"Truly I am nothing to be afraid of Sakura," the hat said to her. "There we go now, that's so much better. Now as for where to put you. Your smarts are incredible, but your bravery and loyalty as demonstrated in recent months seem to have outshone your intelligence. So the perfect place to put you would be...GRYFFINDOR!"

Sakura jumped gleefully from her seat and walked over to the Gryffindor table where she was greeted by thunderous applause and an enormous hug from Hermione.

"Hyuga, Hinata."

She approached the stool so slowly and with a furious blush building on her cheeks. As the hat was placed on her head and as she heard its voice for the first time, she let out a little shriek.

"Hinata. Now now. I may be something completely unnatural considering where you come from, but I assure you I mean no harm. Hinata you are truly a brave girl, but you let your timidness get the better of you. What you need is encouragement. A little help to bring out your courage. So the perfect house for you would then be...GRYFFINDOR!"

Sakura cheered just as loudly as the rest of the Gryffindors as she was joined by her friend Hinata, who Hermione received just as warmly as Sakura.

"Hyuga, Neji."

Neji, always cool and always collected approached the hat with caution and a slight hint of fear in his eyes. Objects should not talk he told himself in his head over and over again. As the Sorting Hat was placed atop his skull Neji flinched upon the hearing of the hat's voice.

"Your intelligence and dedication are your strong points. As well as your courage and loyalty. But I think you're best suited for...RAVENCLAW!"

As another shinobi joined the Ravenclaw table, McGonagall read out the next name.

"Inuzuka, Kiba."

Kiba bounded up the steps to the stool with Akamaru close on his heels. And practically pulled the hat out of McGonnagall's hands in his eagerness to put it on. But on his head it didn't remain very long.

"You are so like Fred and George Weasley. There is truly only one place for you...GRYFFINDOR!"

Kiba leapt down from the raised platform and nearly sprinted to the Gryffindor table with Akamaru following behind. When he got to his seat, he stood upon it and took a bow which was greeted with even more applause.

"Kankurou."

The hat barely touched his head. "With your brother? Alright...SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherins cheered, but Kankurou ignored them and simply went to take a place next to his brother. McGonagall continued

"Nara, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru heaved a sigh. "This is troublesome," he muttered as he neared the stool and sat down at a slothlike pace.

"Your lazy attitude can not fool me," the Sorting Hat said to Shikamaru. "Your genius is obvious. You're best suited to be with your friend in...RAVENCLAW!"

McGonagall looked on and sighed as Shikamaru made his way to the Ravenclaw table with the look of utmost boredom on his face. This was the kind of attitude that she would expect of a troublemaker...how very wrong she was in her assumption. One thing she did not however notice in her observations of Mr. Nara was the small smile that crept onto his face when he saw his best friend Chouji clapping enthusiastically along with the other Ravenclaws.

Then...

"Rock, Lee."

Lee strode to the hat with insane purpose glinting in his eyes and sat down on the stool with a flourish and a huge thumbs up and smile. His fellow shinobi groaned at the mini display while his new classmates stared at him with identical expressions of confusion painted on their faces.

"You're brave and true and have worked your way through many trials in your short lifetime. The only place I can envision you being comfortable in would be...GRYFFINDOR!"

Lee basically pranced his way over to the Gryffindor table striking a "nice guy" pose before sitting down among his peers. McGonagall looked at him trying to...comprehend what could possibly going on his head while Dumbledore stared at Lee with such profound admiration in his twinkling eyes. A girl seated near Lee shifted slightly away from him as the next name was called.

"Temari."

The hat was on her head for no longer than a split second. Enough to hear her think, "Mess up my hair and I'll kill you."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Next on McGonagall's list was, "TenTen."

TenTen fidgeted nervously as the hat was placed on her head. "Your way with weapons is impressive as is how easily you intake all the information you possibly can about each and every one. I hope that you apply that ability here as well. You'll learn the most in...RAVENCLAW!"

"Uzumaki, Naruto."

Naruto stared at the Sorting Hat as he walked up the stairs and approached the stool. He was still staring at it as it was lowered onto his head. He expected to feel different the moment it touched him but he felt nothing. He heard nothing. What was going on. Nothing was happening...absolutely nothing. Seconds passed and still, Naruto sat there with the Sorting Hat upon his head waiting. Waiting for something...for anything.

"Well Naruto. You have a complex mind and a complex character."

"Wh-what? Who's saying that? Get out of my head!" he thought.

"It is I, the hat who sits upon your head, who speaks to you Naruto. I have seen your mind. I have seen your intense bravery. A bravery that exists to the point of foolishness. Your love and value for your friends is one that is so strong. It is what keeps you oriented on your path. It is what keeps you alive. It is what keeps you human. Your will to protect all of those close to you at any cost is your defining characteristic Naruto. I see no other place for you here other than...GRYFFINDOR!"

Naruto jumped as the hat screamed the last word aloud. He was still a little shaken from hearing the strange voice in his head but he was still nonetheless eager to race to sit with his friends at the Gryffindor table.

"Uchiha, Sasuke."

Sasuke was thoroughly unimpressed by the talking hat. At least he was acting like it anyways. As the hat was placed upon his head for sorting Sasuke did not even react when he heard the voice inside his head.

"Ah. So revenge is your goal in life. Still, even though you finally recognize the importance of your teammates friendship and even though you finally consciously return it. You seem the type that would do well in Slytherin...however seeing as how both your teammates have been sorted there, and since I believe you could still learn more from being in their presence I think the place for you is also...GRYFFINDOR!"

Sasuke strolled to the Gryffindor table, hands in his pockets with a bored look on his face. Seeing Naruto and Sakura there with a seat for him between them made the corners of his lips twitch up into a small smile which did not go unnoticed by his friends. He sat down in between them and allowed the smile to remain there on his face for a little while longer. Maybe the hat was right. The best place for him now was with his friends.

"Finally ladies and gentleman,"McGonagall began, "Yamanaka, Ino."

Ino walked up to the stool and smiled as the hat was placed on her head.

"Hmm...you pride yourself on your outer appearance...but that is not what is truly important to you. Your friends are what matter most to you despite what others may believe. And your bravery and determination are things that others don't always see in you. Let them get to know that side of you...GRYFFINDOR!"

Ino curtsied as she stood and then, remembering the Sorting Hat's words, she abruptly straightened and walked over to the Gryffindor table with purpose burning in her eyes and then sat in a seat across from Sakura and next to Hinata. The Sorting Hat was placed back on the stool and Filch carried it from the hall as Dumbledore once again stood.

"I'd love to say "tuck in" but," he began as the students groaned, "there is one more thing I must do. We have a new teacher here with us at Hogwarts this year and a few special guests who will be spending the following semester with us. Please welcome Professor Hatake who shall be teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year." The students applauded politely for the strange Japanese man who did not even look up from the book in his hands as Dumbledore announced his name. The applause abruptly stopped when Dumbledore began speaking again. "Please also welcome Miss Kurenai Yuhi, Mister Asuma Sarutobi, and Mister Gai who will also all be joining us for the year, as well as Miss Tsunade who shall be a frequent visitor to Hogwarts throughout the following semester." The students applauded politely again. "Alright I know you're all anxious to begin the feast so with one last reminder to please respect these guests of Hogwarts...tuck in!"

Suddenly food appeared on the table before the students of Hogwarts. Excited chatter once again broke out as students spooned spectacular dishes onto their plates and began to eat after a long and interesting, to say the very least, sorting ceremony.

* * *

**Authoress' Notes: Umm so that was the sort of long awaited chapter 7. Having read it again I don't find it so utterly horrible. But I don't believe it'll ever win any awards. Anyways, next time look forward to the feast- what's on the menu?, the conversations- how weird can they get?, and the reactions to these new strange students from Japan. Plus I think we'll be getting a good look at the Gryffindor boys dorm...and maybe the girls! Oh and who can forget...Pansi Parkinson meets Temari. How fun! Hopefully this will all be coming to a fanfiction site near you soon. But don't count on the next week or two...I still have summer reading I need to do before school starts. Once I finish that I'll try to dedicate some time to this. If it makes y'all feel any better...I've already started chapter 8!!! No? Alright then! I'll just try to update faster to win your confidence back again! And sorry if I made any screwups with the names, housenames, or jutsus in this chapter...I believe I caught all the mistakes I made...I hope. Thanks to all who read this!**


	8. Roommates and Plans

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto or Harry Potter would I be writing fanfiction? Didn't think so.**

**Authoress' Notes: Yay. New chapter! I know. I suck. I'm a horrible authoress and a horrible promise keeper and an especially horrible updater. It's almost been a year. Yikes. But I will try harder. What happened though is that life sort of caught up to me. A lot of homework and a lot of community projects came up and I was swamped. Plus an unfortunate issue with writer's block...**

**Well thanks to all those who reviewed. You are the ones who inspired me to actually find some time to write this thing...so major props to yall. And as I mentioned before I had a little writer's block issue. But that's gone now. Plus my hard drive was messed, but I got a brand new pretty hard drive which will hopefully not be spastic on me for a good little while. **

**Now as for a lot of the shinobi being sorted into Gryffindor...well I couldn't help it. They are all so...Gryffindorish I think. And I have nothing against Hufflepuffs, but I just didn't think that any of the shinobi were really Hufflepuffs. Feel free to disagree, but that is my own personal opinion and this is my story so I get to do what I want.**

**So anyways, let's get on to what yall are here for. This chapter passes...I think I could have made it better, but I can't think of how...I definitely know I will think of a way to make it a little less boring though as soon as I post this. **

**Just one more note before we begin. It may be Summer, and I will try to update more, but I have Summer reading to do, and am a camp counselor for three weeks so yeah. But when I'm home I will really, really try to dedicate myself a little to writing. For now though let's not think about my next update. On with the show. We're live in 3...2...1...ACTION!**

* * *

The Slytherin table was buzzing. Rumours were already circulating about some of their newest house members - quite obviously the intimidating older students...the new first years were already forgotten in their insignificance. The favourite bit of gossip going around was that they had conspired to kill a man, and it was spreading like wildfire.

Gaara smirked. The Slytherins around him made no effort to be truly discreet in their whispering. He could hear everything they were saying and the thought that him and his two siblings would need to conspire to kill a man was a laughable one. He had killed so many more without a second thought when he had been only a little bit younger, and he could easily still do it now if he so desired.

Similar smirks adorned his siblings' faces. They laughed inwardly at the rumours and realized that they wouldn't even have to get too friendly with anyone. The Slytherins were a chatty bunch, just like any group of impressionable teenagers was expected to be. Still, even though they seemed pretty empty headed, Gaara could not be completely at ease. The boy who had approached him when he had first come to the table had been watching him ever since.

That boy, he had told Gaara his name was Draco Malfoy, had cold eyes...and a bruise on his face which Gaara knew Sakura had given him. He had only suspected it at first, but when he saw the boy's eyes drift up and away to Sakura when her name was called during the sorting, the hardening of the boy's cold eyes was clear. The bruise was proof that he was a creep, but those eyes...they revealed that the boy was something much more than a simple bully. He would need to be monitored. Temari and Kankuro, who had also noticed the nearly white haired wizard, looked to be in agreement with Gaara's opinion especially if Temari's disgusted face was any indication.

* * *

Shikamaru was taking in his surroundings. Sure he would prefer to simply eat the food before him and chat lazily with his friends and even the other Ravenclaws which he now knew to be an intelligent group of people, but he had work to do. He needed to analyze their current situation, after all, the job would fall into his lap anyways. He needed to know what they would require, who was a threat within the school, and most importantly...where they could all meet and when. It would be too much if the shinobi were always together. They needed to learn things and pick up on the gossip from other students, so they couldn't spend all of their time only with each other.

He glanced at the Gryffindor table and noticed gladly that the shinobi there were chatting with a few of the witches and wizards of the house already and not only amongst themselves. He was especially glad to see that the boy they were there to protect, Harry Potter, was talking to Naruto and Ino while the two people he guessed to be Potter's close friends were speaking with Sakura and Hinata. It would be much easier to protect Potter if he accepted them. Actually it would be much easier to protect him if he knew what they were doing. Shikamaru would have to talk to Dumbledore about that. Meanwhile he continued to watch the Gryffindor table as Lee and Kiba joked with a few other members of the Gryffindor house while Sasuke sat eating quietly - but that was to be expected. Sasuke wasn't talkative. Just as Shikamaru wasn't talkative.

Shikamaru knew looking at the Slytherin table would be a waste of his time. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro would stick to themselves for the most part. He chanced a look that way anyways and caught Temari's eye. She smirked at him and he offered her one back. There would be no problem gathering information there, he was confident in the sand shinobis. The issue would be the Hufflepuffs.

Looking at that table, Shikamaru was not entirely content. The Hufflepuffs seemed to care the least about the new arrivals, and that was encouraging, but they had no one there. That was a problem that would need to be solved, but an idea was already coming together in his mind.

"Hey Shik," TenTen called, "could you pass that bowl in front of you?"

Shikamaru reached for the bowl and passed it to the eager girl.

"Excuse me."

Shikamaru's head turned to look at the owner of the voice. A fairly pretty girl was standing behind Neji trying to get the boy's attention. "If you wanted a tour around the school..." she began, "I could most definitely show you around." She put her hand on his arm and smiled flirtatiously while Neji's lips turned down into a scowl. Shikamaru barely resisted the urge to laugh. Before Neji could respond to the girl's advances though, TenTen was there moving the girl's hand off Neji's arm.

"I'm sure we'll find our way around just fine," TenTen stated, putting a heavy emphasis on the 'we', while she placed both her hands on Neji's shoulders. The Ravenclaw girl stood there with an annoyed look on her face until another glare from TenTen sent her stalking back to where her friends were waiting to hear how her encounter with the handsome exchange student had gone.

Shikamaru glanced at his best friend Chouji who was currently enjoying the wide variety of food present at the table. When Chouji looked up to see his closest friend, he smiled and Shikamaru could do nothing but smile back. Even if this mission was going to be long, and most likely fairly boring, at least his friends were there as well.

* * *

Sasuke glanced at the people around him for the umpteenth time that night since the feast had begun, wishing it would all just end already. Dishes and dishes of food and desserts was just too much for him to sit through.

Naruto, on the other hand, who sat on Sasuke's left couldn't have disagreed more. The energetic boy sat drooling over all the lavish dishes, eating as much as he possibly could. He only stopped his eating to talk to Harry Potter, who sat across from him, about a wide assortment of things - from how good the food was and whether it was always this good to how strict the teachers were.

Sakura, on Sasuke's right, was the complete opposite of Naruto. Her plate was still mostly full with all the foods she had initially piled on. Sakura was too busy bombarding Hermione and Ron with questions and absorbing answers to eat. Even Hinata had joined in the conversation, occasionally asking questions that Sakura had yet to get to.

Sasuke's eyes roved down the table, to where Kiba and Lee were joking with some boys who looked to be around their age, and then back up. Ino, who had been trying to talk to Harry Potter had given up competing with the bold Naruto and had started talking to a girl seated on her other side about what was in style around here.

Sasuke's interest was immediately lost and his eyes moved to the other tables. He could see Shikamaru similarly taking in their surroundings at the Ravenclaw table and he couldn't help but smirk. That smirk was wiped off his face however when he caught sight of the sand siblings at the Slytherin table. All three were glaring at something. And as his gaze followed their glares, his eyes fell on a boy with white-blond hair whose own gaze was fixed intently on the shinobi of the Gryffindor table - more particularly the pink-haired girl on Sasuke's right.

The second the boy's gaze drifted and locked with his own, Sasuke stared him down, filling his own eyes with detest and murderous intent. The boy looked away and Sasuke couldn't help but be satisfied. He looked back at the sand trio and Kankuro offered him a wave while Temari smiled. Gaara just gave Sasuke a look that could only be interpreted as _'_we are definitely keeping an eye on that worm'.

"Hey teme, what are you doing?" a voice interrupted the silence Sasuke had built up around himself.

Naruto looked at his friend with confusion etched on his features. Sakura had stopped talking with Hermione and Ron when Naruto had spoken to see what her blond teammate was talking about.

"Nothing dobe," Sasuke answered.

"Sure. Whatever," Naruto answered, determined not to care if Sasuke wasn't going to answer, even though the Uchiha had clearly been up to something if the scowl on his face and the hardness of his eyes were any indication.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura, who also stared at him in mild confusion trying to figure out what had been the cause of Naruto's question, before she too shrugged it off and turned her attention back to Ron, Hermione, and Hinata.

Sasuke resumed his watching of the room, making sure to look at the Slytherin table every so often so as to discourage the Slytherin boy from restarting his own watching. When this dinner was finally over, he'd be glad.

* * *

"And now the Prefects will lead you to your dorms." Naruto listened halfheartedly as Dumbledore announced to the students in the Great Hall that the feast was over and that they would now be directed to their rooms. He had eaten a lot, and now he was full. It didn't help at all that he was tired. He wanted nothing more than to get some sleep.

He stood up with the other Gryffindors and started making his way through the castle only listening a little as they were told about the trick staircases, secret passageways, and the best way up to the Gryffindor dorm room. He would have to ask Sakura about it all later. Including the password, which he missed as it was spoken rapidly to a painting of a fat lady.

When the painting swung open though and he caught his first glimpse of the dormitory through the hole in the wall, Naruto's interest perked up immediately. The crackling fireplace, the two spiraled staircases presumably leading up to the rooms, the cozy couches - well this interested him.

He pushed past a bunch of first years and even some veteran Hogwarts students and ran to the first couch he could see. He flopped down onto the cushions gracelessly and let out a content sigh.

The other shinobi hadn't been so eager to get in, and they slowly made their way through the hole in the wall into the Gryffindor common room. Kiba looked at Naruto already lazing on a couch, thought it was a good idea, and flopped down on a couch across from Naruto's. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata walked right past their two lazy friends and followed Hermione up the stairs to their dormitory.

Lee took a seat on the end of the couch that Kiba had claimed as his own and Sasuke sat on one of the armrests on Naruto's couch. None of them said anything, nor did they plan to until the common room had cleared a bit - which wouldn't take too long seeing as how all the students were tired and were already heading off to bed.

"I think you guys are in our room," Harry spoke to the nins as he walked past the group of guys on the couches with his friend Ron. "I can show you," he offered.

"Sure," Lee said energetically. Harry winced as the boy with the bowl cut made to bob up the stairs after him.

"Oi Lee," Kiba called up after him. "Come back down and let us know what room it is."

"Of course my youthful friends!"

Kiba groaned a little at Lee's excitement, but was glad he didn't have to move from the couch yet.

As Kiba, Sasuke, and Naruto waited for Lee's return, the common room emptied and the girls finally came back down the stairs and joined them. Ino took up the spot that Lee had occupied at the end of Kiba's couch and Sakura pushed Naruto off the couch he occupied while Naruto let out an indignant, "Hey!" She however ignored him and invited Hinata to come sit next to her. Naruto got right back up though and sat down next to Hinata. This made the shy girl blush, while Sakura and Ino flashed each other secret little smiles.

"Where's Lee?" Ino then asked.

"He went up to see where our rooms are," Kiba answered.

Sasuke looked down at Sakura, who had taken the seat on the couch closest to his armrest. "When are we meeting with the others?" he asked.

"Oh, right," Sakura muttered as she pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket that TenTen had handed her after the feast right before the shinobi had split to go to their respective dorms. "Shikamaru says to meet tomorrow morning in the Great Hall at seven," she finished as she handed the note to Sasuke for his inspection.

"Seven," Naruto complained. "I won't be awake at seven."

"Exactly," Sakura told him. "The rest of the school won't be conscious yet, and we'll be able to all meet up without having to sneak around."

"Plus," Lee announced as he returned, "our great youthfulness will help us to stay awake."

"Ugh," Naruto groaned, "then I'm off to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."

As Naruto headed away, Kiba called out to him, "Do you even know where bed is?"

Naruto huffed. "Lee, show me bed," he whined.

Lee headed back in the direction of the staircase he had just come from with Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke behind him.

The girls remained downstairs however for a little while longer.

"Hinata, you have to be more assertive," Ino declared to the girl who hadn't been able to speak for the duration of Naruto being next to her.

"Yeah," Sakura added, "you have to be a little more confident if you want him to realize you like him. He's pretty thick. I should know. I was on a team with him for a long while, and though he's talented, brave, and can even be smart when he's not goofing off...well...it'll take him years without a little prompting."

"What should I do?" Hinata whispered.

"Start by talking to him more," Ino suggested. "It may be hard at first trying to overcome the natural shyness you seem to have around him, but with practice you'll get better and conversation will come so much easier."

"Plus, if you take care to sit next to him at meals or in classes, he'll start to notice your attention to him," Sakura quipped.

"I'll try that," she answered.

"And don't worry," Sakura finished placing a comforting hand on Hinata's shoulder, "I know that once he realizes you like him, he'll definitely act on it."

As the girls made their way up to their beds, Ino and Sakura walked behind Hinata, all the while deciding the best way to direct Naruto's interest towards their cute, shy friend.

* * *

"Wow," Naruto breathed as he took in the sight of the room. It had been magically enlarged to make room for the four extra beds needed for the shinobi and it was huge. Naruto looked around the room and saw that Seamus, Dean, and Neville were already asleep, but Ron and Harry were having a whispered conversation on Ron's bed when the nins walked in.

"Hey," Naruto said as he waved at the two guys.

"Hey," Harry answered back. The shinobi moved to their beds...identifiable by their trunks at the foot of them, while Ron and Harry whispered some more.

"You ask them."

"No you ask them."

"Fine."

"Umm," Ron cleared his throat. Naruto turned to look at the red-headed boy. "Your magic...well...you know how you just kind of changed into our teachers," he started. Naruto nodded his head. "Well how did you do that without a potion of some sort? Hell. How did you do that without even a wand?"

Naruto just smiled his foxy grin at Ron. "It's really quite easy," he began, "a simple illusion. I could show you right now."

"Really?" Ron asked.

"Yup. Though I don't think you'll be able to do it," he added as an afterthought. "Not with your kind of magic anyways...but maybe you could. I don't really know."

"Still, I'd love to see it up close," Ron continued excitedly.

"Alright." The mischievous glint in Naruto's eyes would have been obvious to anyone who knew him. But they were currently not paying any attention to him.

"Oiroke no jutsu." And then with a poof, it was no longer Naruto that was standing before Ron and Harry, but a pretty, very naked girl. "So what do you think?" Naruto's transformation asked. Ron and Harry couldn't talk. They just stared at the transformed Naruto with blood dribbling out of their noses.

"Oi Naruto, warn us when you're about to use that," Kiba laughed as he threw a pillow at Naruto. Lee was also laughing while muttering something about Naruto displaying his youthfulness through his tricks. Sasuke had already closed the curtains around his bed and was presumably sound asleep. Naruto just giggled then transformed back into himself.

"That was so worth it," he shouted. "The looks on your faces were priceless," he continued as he glanced back at Ron and Harry, who were finally finished recovering form their temporary shock at seeing a naked girl.

"What's all the noise about?" a voice asked from somewhere behind a curtain. "People are trying to sleep here."

Seamus, Dean, and Neville's faces popped out from between the curtains around their beds. They didn't look too happy about being woken up.

"Hey," Naruto said to them.

"Could you keep it down?" Dean asked. "Some of us are tired."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure," Naruto responded, waving them off.

"No wait," Harry began foxily.

"Yeah, you should show them that transformation thing," Ron added slyly.

Naruto grinned brightly again. "Oiroke no jutsu."

Dean, Seamus, and Neville fainted. And this time Ron and Harry joined Kiba, Lee and Naruto in their laughter.

* * *

Temari looked around the room she would be sharing with the annoying Slytherin girls and sighed. It was all a little darker and colder than she was used to. After all, didn't she live in a place where it was sunny almost all day? And hot? And warm? She missed the sand in between her toes, and even the sand that somehow always managed to end up in her clothes, scratching her and making her itch.

"Oh well," she muttered, "I'll live."

"Not likely," a high pitched voice that grated on Temari's very last nerve said from the door.

Temari wheeled around to look at the person who had the brass to talk to her like that, and saw a shrimpy little thing with a face like a pug. Well, that was being unfair. Her face was much uglier than a pug's.

"I'm Pansy Parkinson and I'm in charge around here," the girl sneered, "and I can make your life a living hell. Unless, of course, you follow my lead."

"Well let's see...Shove it. I don't give a fuck about you or any of your delusions," Temari responded calmly. "And believe me. I am definitely not scared of a stupid little witch like you."

"You are so dead." The girl reached inside her robe pocket for her wand and Temari grabbed the fan she had just unpacked from her bag. She really hoped she could blow whatever spell this girl used right back at her smug face - not just divert it away from herself.

She didn't hear what words the girl muttered, all she saw was the red flash of light. She gave her fan a wave and the spell went flying back at the sender, hitting her full in the face.

The girl cried out and brought her hands up to cover her head. It didn't matter though, Temari had already seen the tentacles sprouting from her skin.

"You should go get that fixed," Temari snickered. "Though really. It is an improvement."

"You bitch," the girl shrieked.

"Actually my name is Temari."

The girl ran from the room and Temari smirked. Seconds later, two Slytherin girls came into the room looking to see what had caused Pansy to flee it, and saw the smug Temari who had lain down on her bed with her hands propped behind her head, looking for all the world as if nothing had happened.

"Did you do that to Pansy?" one of the girls asked.

"Do what?" Temari asked innocently. "Oh you mean the girl with the tentacles? Isn't that what her face usually looks like? Anyways, I'm off to bed. Don't bother me."

And she shut the curtains around herself, and drifted off to sleep while listening to the other girls in the room gossip about her.

* * *

Gaara was displeased with his surroundings to say the least. He missed his usual room, the comforting presence of warm sand, and the much better company of the people of Suna. He looked over at Kankuro who had lay down on his bed, head propped up by his pillows. It wasn't that he minded sharing a room with his brother. It was the other people he disliked.

That Draco boy with the disturbing eyes just wouldn't give it a rest. Yes, they were going to keep an eye on him, but that didn't mean they had to be sociable with him. He kept trying to talk to Gaara, and now Kankuro too. They had both treated him coldly and shot him glares that clearly said 'piss off', but the teen wizard just wouldn't give it a rest.

"So Gaara," the boy tried again. "What do you think of Slytherin?"

Gaara just shot him another look and responded with, "It's none of your concern."

"Well we are housemates. I think we should get on friendly terms with each other. Don't you?" Draco tried again.

"No."

"What about you?" Draco directed his attention to Kankuro.

"I'm not really interested in talking to you," the puppet master replied.

This was going to be a long year is what Gaara thought as he closed the curtains around his bed and hid from his housemates. A muffled sound from the next bed told him that Kankuro had done the same.

* * *

"Interesting idea," Neji commented to Shikamaru as they sat in the Ravenclaw common room with Chouji, Shino, and TenTen. The Ravenclaws had been coming up to them and bombarding them with questions about Japan, their wandless magic, and their school ever since the five of them had sat down together. Shikamaru had been fielding most of these annoying questions despite his unwillingness to talk simply because he could think of the most convincing lies on his feet.

Now though, the crowd had thinned and the five of them were finally alone.

"It definitely makes sense," TenTen added.

"What do you think Shino?" Neji asked the often silent guy.

"I think it'll work," he responded, adjusting his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.

Neji, Chouji, and TenTen absentmindedly wondered if he ever took them off.

"It's settled then. We'll let the others know in the morning that we now have spies in Hufflepuff," Shikamaru concluded.

* * *

It was late. Or would it be considered early? It didn't matter. All she knew was that it was pitch black outside. But still she climbed out of her bed, grabbed a kunai, and crept down the stairs to the common room. It had been another nightmare that had woken her from her sleep, and she needed to get some air. The kunai was just in case. She had learned it was best to be prepared for every possibility throughout the years. Assuming she was always safe, well that would get her no where except six feet under.

As she rounded the last bend in the curving staircase, she noticed a twinkling light, almost like the moon reflected off a kunai, in the entrance to the boys stairwell. She tensed. She had to be overreacting. An aftereffect of her nightmare. That was all this was. Just her imagination... Wasn't it? There was really only one way to find out. She rushed out to meet the attacker, if there even was one, head on.

* * *

He woke with a start for the second night in a row now. This nightmare had been no better than the last, leaving him in a cold sweat. He needed to calm down a bit and get some air. Something he most definitely was not going to be able to do in a room with nine boys and all their crap in it. He reached for the kunai under his pillow and then with it in his hand, made his way silently down the stairs to the common room. This was still a strange place and he wasn't taking any chances.

As he turned around the last bend in the stairwell he was momentarily shocked as he took in the sight of the tip of a kunai, illuminated by the moon, sticking out of the entrance way to the girls' rooms. It looked too real to be just his mind playing tricks on him. And then the shining silver moved, and he instinctively moved to meet it. His kunai and the other kunai clashed with such force that sparks erupted from the point where the two blades had met. He was momentarily stunned as he took in the sight of the person before him.

"Sakura," he spoke softly.

"Sasuke," she murmured back just as quietly.

The two were both completely illuminated by the moonlight that shone in through the windows now that they stood in the center of the common room, kunai locked together, only inches apart from each other.

Sakura was the first to pull her kunai back and Sasuke immediately followed suit. She strolled over to the couch she had occupied earlier that evening and let her body fall, almost limply into the inviting cushions placing her kunai on the table in front of her. Sasuke followed her to the couch and, after only a brief second's hesitation, sat down next to her.

"It was another nightmare," she explained to him while leaning back into the cushion behind her and closing her eyes. "I needed some air. The room upstairs was just too stuffy."

"Same for me," he replied. "Why did you bring a kunai with you though?"

"Why did you?" she replied with a grin on her face. Sasuke couldn't help but let the corner of his lips turn up in a small smile.

The two lapsed into silence then, and Sasuke looked at Sakura noticing that her arm was trembling. "Sakura, are you alright? You're shaking," he told her, the concern in his voice barely detectable, but still there.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked down at her arm to see that it was in fact shaking. She let a small laugh escape her. "It kind of jarred my arm when our kunai met," she replied honestly, though with a small smile of satisfaction on her lips, "but I managed to keep your's from overpowering mine."

Sasuke continued to look at Sakura, who had once again closed her eyes. She was so proud that she had blocked his kunai, even if it had caused her pain. He suddenly felt some need to soothe the kunoichi. He reached out very slowly, and took her tiny right hand in his own two larger ones. He gently massaged it, and then her wrist, moving his way up her arm.

Sakura was in shock the second Sasuke's fingers touched the skin on the back of her hand. She didn't dare open her eyes in case the moment shattered before her. She sat there simply enjoying the attention from him that she had craved when she was younger and thinking about whether these were the kind actions of Sasuke her teammate...or if there was something more to it.

When his hands found her hand again, he took a hold of it and traced lines on the back of it lightly with this thumbs. Sakura was about to open her eyes to look into Sasuke's and try to figure out what he was thinking when she heard a noise from the boys' stairwell. Apparently Sasuke heard it too, because he dropped her hand and reached for the kunai he had put down. Sakura did the same.

They waited with baited breath as someone came into view at the bottom of the twirling staircase.

"Nightmares again?" Naruto asked his two closest friends.

They nodded their heads in affirmation as they placed their kunai back down now that their was no threat. Sakura let out the breath she had been holding.

"Me too," he sighed as he made to join them.

Sakura moved a little closer to Sasuke to make room for Naruto on her other side. The three sat in one of their comfortable silences on the couch until Naruto cleared his throat. Both Sasuke and Sakura turned to look at him.

"Umm...so what were you doing when I came down the stairs?" he started confusedly. "It kind of looked like you were holding hands or something..." He let the thought trail off.

Sakura's cheeks assumed a pale pink blush and Sasuke said absolutely nothing, not even to tell Naruto that he was being stupid.

"So you were holding hands then!" the boy exclaimed excitedly.

"Naruto," Sakura warned.

"Are you guys going out behind my back or something?" the blond boy continued completely ignoring Sakura's warning.

"Naruto." This time it was Sasuke who warned him.

"Really. You guys should have told me. I could have handled it, after all I will be the next Hokage of Konoha and as the next Hokage I have to be strong in all matters, even matters of the heart and..."

"Naruto!" they both exclaimed exasperated at their friends inability to listen.

He looked at them sheepishly. "Sorry," he muttered. "I'm letting my imagination run away from me again aren't I?"

"You think?" both Sakura and Sasuke muttered sarcastically.

"Alright. I'll drop it," he conceded.

'_For now,' he thought._

* * *

**Authoress' Notes: YAY!! New chapter. Since I'm so horrible at updating I probably don't deserve any reviews, but I still want them. I'm not kidding when I say they are what keep me trying to write this. I'll hopefully get another chapter out before I go to camp, but I'm not making any promises. I will say that Sunday I am planning to put in a solid two hours of writing... And since I'm being honest, I'm working on another story right now. No, not the Twilight one (that is on hiatus) if anyone's seen that one, but another Naruto one. I won't be posting that though until I have more chapters of this out. So that's it for now. Review if you like. It's my greatest motivation to continue with this story. By the way, I never realized how hard it is to write when you have so many characters. Yikes. I am so never doing something like this again.  
**


	9. The First Week

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto or Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing this for all my lovely readers.**

**Authoress' Notes: It's been over a year. I know. I suck. But I had decided that I was not going to continue this story anymore. Then when I was cleaning up my computer, I found the latest chapter I had been working on when I decided to stop writing. And I started working on it again. And a day later, this is what I had come up with. I'm pretty happy with it seeing as how it's the first chapter I've cranked out in over a year. And I now have plans to continue working on this story again, though I don't know how frequently I'll update. Hopefully once a month, but I can't make any promises since I start university this year.**

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed. I couldn't fully forget this story, even if I wanted to because of the reviews and favorites and alerts landing in my inbox.**

**What I will promise is to try my best. And as soon as I post this chapter I'm off to work on the next one. Hopefully you all enjoy. Hopefully some of you are still there in fanfiction land and are still reading this. As a sort of sorry present, I'm willing to try and write a story or a oneshot or something on commission - by that I don't mean you pay me, I mean you send me your ideas in e-mails or messages, not reviews, and I'll pick one and try and write it.**

**While I'm here, I'd also like to say that I will be posting the first chapter of a story I've been working on in my spare time for the last year soon. It's going to be called Sakura's Story or something to that effect. I've already typed maybe 120 pages of it and I'm really happy with how that one's working out.**

**Now, we're live in 3...2...1...ACTION!**

* * *

Harry awoke early in the morning to the sound of movement in his room. He sat up in bed and listened carefully to the muffled sound of whispering and shuffling feet.

"Naruto, be a little quieter."

That was that boy Sasuke's voice. Harry tried to listen to more of the quiet bits of conversation, but it was suddenly silent in the room. He moved the curtains around his bed aside slowly and peeked out into the dormitory. The curtains around the foreign exchange students' beds were wide open, and the students were gone.

Harry checked his watch and saw that it was only six fifty-five.

'_What could they be doing out of bed this early?' he thought._

He climbed out of his own bed, grabbed his invisibility cloak and threw it over himself, and then made his way down the stairs to the common room without a second thought. As he neared the bottom of the stairs he heard voices .

"Where are they? We are so going to be the last ones there," Kiba complained.

"I know. I mean how long could it take them to get ready?" Naruto added while he bounced in place.

"They are preparing to express their youthfulness to the best of their capabilities," Lee nearly yelled in explanation.

Harry meanwhile just stood in the stairwell waiting and eavesdropping.

"Well sorry we wanted to look good for the first day of classes," Ino whined as she came into Harry's sights, dressed in a dark skirt and a white blouse, a black robe tossed over one shoulder. Hinata was the next to drift into his vision, her robe on and already done up. Sakura was the last of the female Gryffindor exchange students to come into his sight, her robe was on, but it was open and it billowed around her as she walked.

"Actually, Ino got upset with the talking mirror. It was really quite funny," Sakura quipped with a cheerful smile. "So are we ready to go?"

Sasuke was the first one to stand up and start walking out with her. Naruto soon began walking with them as well, followed by the rest of the foreigners. Harry followed them, all the while being careful to make sure the invisibility cloak kept him covered, since every once in a while, one of the exchange students would glance back and stare almost right at where he was. He didn't want to give himself away, especially after seeing what they could do without a wand.

Finally, the group in front of Harry reached the Great Hall and entered, him still following silently behind them. Already seated there, he saw the other foreign exchange students and their teachers, as well as Dumbledore. Harry was confused. Did such a meeting between the new students and the headmaster have to take place so early in the morning?

"Ah. So good to see you my lovely new Gryffindors," Dumbledore greeted them.

Harry watched as the students took seats at the table where everyone else was already seated. He walked close enough to hear what was being said, but no closer. He had a strong feeling that Dumbledore knew he was there. When the old professor turned and winked right at him, Harry was sure.

"And I see we are joined by one other, who I guess should really have been notified of this little get-together," Dumbledore continued.

Heads spun around, but no one could see Harry.

"Please take off your cloak, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore invited Harry. Harry couldn't dream of saying no to his teacher, so he whipped the cloak off and stood facing a room of surprised faces.

"Err...hi," he said rather quietly.

"That thing is brilliant!" Naruto exclaimed bouncing around in his seat between Sakura and Kiba.

"I knew someone was following us," Sakura said with a smile.

"So that's why we couldn't see you..." Ino trailed off.

"Are you sure this is wise, Professor?" Tsunade asked the old man.

"It's his life we're protecting isn't it? Doesn't he have a sort of right to know?" Kakashi asked her lazily. Tsunade turned red and grumbled something about annoying men in masks.

"Protecting my life?" Harry asked, stunning the people who had momentarily forgot him after his sudden appearance.

"Alas, Harry. Please sit down and just listen patiently. All will be explained," Dumbledore began. And then with the help of Tsunade he explained about Orochimaru, their theories about him and Voldemort, and how the exchange students were really ninjas hired to help gather information and protect Harry's life.

Harry sat in silence listening to all that Dumbledore had to tell him. Over the years, he had experienced so many strange things that he wasn't even really too shocked. He took it in stride thinking that being ninjas explained quite a bit about these mysterious new arrivals.

"So Professor," he began slowly when Dumbledore had finished speaking, "these people," he indicated the shinobi around him hesitantly, "are ninjas hired to protect me and find out what they can while they're here about Voldemort...and his new powers...which make him even more dangerous?"

"That's about it," Professor Dumbledore answered him with a bright smile.

"Now that's settled, can we continue with our meeting Professor," Shikamaru interrupted before Harry could say anything else.

"Yes, yes, of course," Professor Dumbledore answered with a bright twinkle in his eyes.

"Alright," Shikamaru spoke in the voice he reserved for when he had to take charge of situations. "We have people in every house except Hufflepuff. Last night, us in Ravenclaw brain-stormed a way around that particular problem however. Shino's bugs make excellent spies. We'll have some in Hufflepuff, as well as around the castle so that we can listen for any relevant news."

"As for our jobs for now," he continued, "mingling with the students here is priority next to watching out for this one," he said indicating Harry who sat across from him. "The jounins, except for Kakashi, will be spending time in the local village, and back in Diagon Alley, trying to pick up news and gossip there and making friends with the locals. It is important that we extend our reach as far as possible into the wizarding population to gather the best information possible. As for protecting Harry, one person should have their eyes on him at all times."

"And," TenTen added looking right at Harry, "no trying to get away from us. You might get sick of having us nearby, but we're here to keep you safe. So don't try to sneak off anywhere. Let us know what you're up to or if you plan on going off somewhere."

"Now," Dumbledore interjected, "since you are all sixth years, there is some flexibility in your scheduling, which we will be sorting out right now. I've already put two of you in Charms, only for the purpose of someone being with Mr. Potter in that class. It will be difficult for you to accomplish some of the set tasks without a wand, so I found these for you Sasuke, Sakura," he said showing them two wands, "they will work like Professor Hatake's, casting any spells you need them to, but you will need to bring them to me every week so that I can imbue them with some of my magic. See how the wood is black now. They will begin to turn white as the magic stored in them leaves with each spell you cast. When they are fully white, they will be completely useless until I store some more of my magic in them. Continuing on, I've also already placed all of you in Defense Against the Dark Arts classes in contrast. The theories and general information will be wonderfully helpful to you in case of another fight. Some of the practical lessons will be useless however. Herbology, Potions, History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Divination, Astronomy, and Muggle Studies are the choices you get to make right now, and they are all wonderful things to fill your schedules with as they do not require a wand. I also recommend Transfiguration, as sixth years focus on human transfiguration, which I'm sure you all can handle without any problems. So write down what classes you'd be interested in taking and I'll have your schedules ready for breakfast."

Papers and quills appeared before the shinobi and they quickly wrote down lists of classes. Sakura, who would be taking Charms with Sasuke, and Defense Against the Dark Arts like everyone else, also wrote down Transfiguration (for an easy class), Potions, and Herbology. Her friends picked classes like History of Magic, Muggle Studies, Divination, and Care of Magical Creatures so that they wouldn't have much to do. Sasuke picked the same classes as Sakura, figuring them to be the most useful and the least wasteful of his time. And Naruto picked Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and Divination on top of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

While everyone scribbled their lists, Harry watched Professor Hatake approach Dumbledore. "So as to what we discussed yesterday?" he asked the old wizard.

"My friend Professor Slughorn is already here to take over from Severus, and Severus will be joining you in your class," Dumbledore answered with a smile, "I'll make the announcement at breakfast."

"Thank you, Professor," Kakashi smiled.

It was at this point that Harry slipped out and walked back upstairs. He hadn't gotten ready that morning before following the exchange students...no, the ninjas, downstairs. He was still in pajamas, and his bag wasn't even packed for the day. Seconds after he had escaped the Great Hall, Sakura joined him.

"I promised Hermione I'd walk down with her this morning," Sakura gave as her reason for following Harry upstairs, though they both knew it was to follow him. Harry looked at her and saw a smile on her face. This girl seemed so good natured for someone who spent her life killing people.

"How can you be so happy when you kill people for a living?" he asked her without thinking.

Sakura's smile didn't leave her face though her voice was much less cheery. "It's the way our world is. Murderers, thieves, other criminals...we do have jails for them and a judicial system...but usually, the bad guys are just like us. They know how to fight, and sometimes no matter how hard you try otherwise, you end up killing them in the struggle or just to protect your own life, or your family, or your friends."

"And then other times," she continued, "like in the case of Orochimaru, who you heard about this morning, you just have to get rid of them. It's not like everything I do is kill people. I try not to if I can help it. As bad as the other people might be, they could still have families, people who care about them...and I never forget that. I'm not happy when I do kill someone, but that's my reality, and I can't let it take over my life."

"That's why I decided to take up medicine. I do what I can to save other people's lives to make up for the ones I have to take. And a lot of my missions are to help people in our village and other villages, to protect people, like you, or to carry important pieces of information, so many of my jobs don't involve killing at all usually. This Voldemort character though, he sounds like the type who just needs to disappear for good, and I don't think I'd have terrible trouble killing him. Could you kill him?" she asked at the end of her long answer.

Harry thought about it for a minute before replying: "I think I could. At first, I wanted him dead for personal reasons. He killed my parents and was responsible for my godfather's death. Now though, he's been killing people across the country, and if he were to rise to power again, none of the people I care about would be safe. If I ever meet him again, I will try to kill him for the sake of everyone else."

"You're a brave man, Harry Potter," Sakura told him as they reached the portrait of the fat lady in pink and gave her the password.

It was only seven thirty and Sakura decided to wait in the common room for Hermione reading a book while Harry went upstairs to get ready for the day.

* * *

Breakfast at Hogwarts was usually a rather informal sort of thing, with everyone coming to eat when they pleased, but on the first day when schedules were handed out, everyone came down for eight o'clock. There was no food waiting for them today though. All the plates were empty, and remained empty until the entire school was seated in the Hall.

"Good morning," Dumbledore stood greeting them. "I have a few more announcements to make this morning that were forgotten last night. As you can see, there is a new addition to our staff table this morning. Professor Slughorn," and at the mention of his name a large, balding man stood up and waved to the students, "will be teaching Potions this year while Professor Snape joins Professor Hatake in teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." Dumbledore paused for a minute and let the students whisper about this change before continuing.

"I'd also like to say goodbye to our dear friend Miss Tsunade, who will be leaving us already this morning to return to her school," Dumbledore continued, "as well as inform you all that there will be a ball held this Friday evening to welcome our foreign friends at Hogwarts. If you do not have appropriate attire, today is only Monday and you have plenty of time to get some fancier clothing. Have a good first day."

And with that Dumbledore sat down and food appeared in the Great Hall. Chatter also erupted immediately.

"A ball? Blimey, I love you guys," Ron said to Sakura and Kiba, "the last ball we had was fourth year at Christmas."

"Who are you going to ask?" Hermione immediately asked Sakura, grabbing the pinkette's attention from Ron.

"Ask?" Sakura echoed.

"Well of course, you have to go with someone," Lavender Brown, another Gryffindor girl, told Sakura with a haughty air and a look at Ron that didn't go unnoticed by the kunoichi, "though usually the guy asks you."

Sakura smiled at her but turned her attention right back to Hermione and Ino, "There's no one I really want to go with, though I do know a couple we must set up, and the sooner the better."

Ino ignored Sakura's blatant lie, knowing her friend would love it if Sasuke invited her, but focused her attention on what Sakura was implying. "Operation Orange is a go then I take it?" she asked with a wicked smile.

"Oh yeah," Sakura answered with a glance at Naruto.

"Operation Orange?" Hermione asked confused.

"We're trying to get Naruto to ask Hinata out," Ino clarified.

"You want in?" Sakura asked her new friend. "We could use all the help we can get."

"Why not," Hermione answered and started plotting with the girls only to be interrupted minutes later.

"Hermione?"

"What do you want Ron?" she asked.

Ron turned pink, but before he could chicken out, he spoke quickly, the words flying out of his mouth: "Willyougototheballwithme?"

"Huh?"

"I said, will you go to the ball with me. You said next time there was a ball to ask you right away and not as a last resort, and I was thinking, and I would be really honored if you would go with me," Ron said a little slower, though the words still came out sounding rushed. He was turning redder by the second.

"Oh...I mean...of course...I mean...I will...yes. Yes, I'll go with you, Ron," she answered him turning pink herself.

Sakura watched with satisfaction as Lavender Brown left her seat near them in a huff, and then turned her eyes to Harry who was watching his friends so intently that he was ignoring Naruto who was talking very loudly to him.

"Hey, Naruto!" she called.

Her friend looked over at her and flashed her a toothy grin, "What's up Sakura-chan?"

"I was just wondering," she lowered her voice before continuing, "who you were thinking of taking to the ball."

Naruto looked stumped. Sakura had planted the idea that he needed a date. Part one of Operation Orange had begun.

* * *

Gaara sat at the Slytherin table looking utterly bored and thoroughly unimpressed by the declaration of a ball. The other Slytherins were excited however. One brave boy had already asked some girl to accompany him. Draco sat down next to Gaara but didn't speak, so Gaara ignored him. Shikamaru had told Gaara this morning to get friendlier with Malfoy as he was probably the likeliest to be up to no good, but Gaara was finding it hard to even try to pretend to be interested in the piece of slime next to him. Still, he promised himself he would try harder with Kankurou...later. Meanwhile, he couldn't help but overhear the pompous git's conversation.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll say yes. Really, she'll have to," Draco said confidently.

One of his dumb friends, Crabbe or Goyle, Gaara wasn't sure which one was which yet, said: "What do you mean? Didn't that girl hit you?"

"You'll see," was all Draco said when Gaara looked his way. And then Gaara saw his gaze turn to Sakura.

Gaara's first class was Potions. Sakura was also in that class. He would mention something to her then. He didn't like the look this guy had in his eyes.

* * *

"But I don't want to take Potions," Ron complained as he followed Hermione and Harry down to the dungeons.

"Really? Why not? It's a bloody useful subject. I mean without it you never would have been able to impersonate Crabbe and Goyle in second year, Madame Pomfrey would never have been able to unpetrify me and the other students-" Hermione started.

"Okay, okay," Ron interrupted her, "I'll grin and bear it. Happy?"

"Yes," she answered.

Harry laughed and walked into the Potions classroom with his two friends, followed shortly by a few Slytherins, including Malfoy to his disappointment, some Ravenclaws, and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff. Sasuke, Sakura, Gaara, Shikamaru, and Neji also walked in and took seats.

"Oh welcome, welcome!" Professor Slughorn gushed excitedly when everyone had taken their seats. "Ah Mr. Potter," he said welcoming Harry with a warm handshake, "so nice to meet you, so nice. I hope to be seeing more of you soon. I have these little get-togethers for choice students every once in a while and I insist that you attend."

Before he could walk away, Harry quickly grabbed the Professor's attention, "Sir, I didn't expect to be taking Potions this year. Neither did Ron here. Do you have any extra books we could use for now?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed rushing off, only to be back a minute later with two battered books. Harry and Ron both thanked Professor Slughorn for the texts with weak smiles.

Meanwhile, in the back of the classroom, Gaara was talking to Sakura.

"I'm pretty sure that boy you hit is planning on asking you to the ball," Gaara told her.

Sakura laughed and looked at Gaara's puzzled face, "Well I'll just say no then, won't I?"

"The thing is, he seems to have something planned. He's very sure that you'll say yes," Gaara continued, trying to explain to Sakura why he was worried about the situation.

"Don't worry about it, Gaara. I think I can fend off the unwanted advances of a sixteen year old boy," she laughed again.

Professor Slughorn started speaking again and Sakura, the eager learner, turned her attention away from Gaara and to the teacher. Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Neji, all three who had heard everything that Gaara and Sakura had talked about, looked at each other. They all knew Sakura could take care of herself, but she didn't seem to see any danger in Malfoy.

While Sakura's attention was on the teacher in front of her, Shikamaru passed a note to Sasuke.

It said: We'll help you keep an eye on her. Don't let her go anywhere alone.

Sasuke was glad that there was a silent understanding between him and the other boys. He hadn't planned on letting Sakura go anywhere by herself since last night when he had seen Malfoy staring at her.

His thoughts finally turned to what Slughorn was talking about.

"So who can tell me what this is?" the old man asked.

Hermione's hand shot straight up into the air.

"It's Veritaserum. It's colorless, odorless, and forces the drinker to tell the truth."

"Now what's this one?"

Hermione's hand shot up again: "It's Polyjuice Potion. You add hair from a person to the liquid, and when you drink it, you take on that person's appearance."

"Unnecessary for us, of course," Neji muttered under his breath, "though that Veritaserum could be useful."

"Now, this one here...yes, my dear?" Professor Slughorn asked beaming at Hermione.

"It's Amortentia."

"It seems silly of me to ask, but do you know what it does?"

"It's the most powerful love potion in the world," Hermione answered a little embarrassed, "and it smells differently to everyone depending on what attracts you," she continued.

"Quite right. Now it can't really create love, but it will cause a powerful obsession or infatuation," Slughorn explained moving on to another potion he called Felix Felicis that supposedly brought the drinker luck.

Shikamaru's mind was on the love potion however. He looked over at Sasuke and saw that he was thinking the same thing: Watch Draco Malfoy and the love potion.

"So, the person who brews the best Draught of Living Death for me in the time that we have left will win one bottle of Felix Felicis. Enough for one day's luck. Begin," Slughorn announced.

Immediately students everywhere were opening their books and rushing around to get ingredients. The shinobi boys were following Sakura's every move, trusting the medic to know what she was doing. Hermione was chopping and stirring furiously. Harry on the other hand was reading his potions book very carefully and doing things a little differently than the instructions said. He had extra notes added in his book, and when one tip proved successful, he decided to follow the other ones.

The end result was that Harry's potion was perfect, winning him the bottle of Felix Felicis. Hermione's was close, as was Sakura's. The shinobi had managed to pull off passable potions by copying nearly every single thing Sakura did, the other students weren't so lucky. Many of their potions resembled tar or were spewing choking smoke. In the midst of everything, Sasuke was the only one who saw Draco Malfoy scoop a cupful of the love potion.

* * *

"I didn' expect ter have a sixth year class at all this year," Hagrid said looking at the crew in front of him.

Dumbledore had mentioned to the shinobi that Hagrid was the one teaching Care of Magical Creatures. Immediately, almost everyone had signed up. While Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Neji and Gaara sat in Potions, Naruto, Lee, Chouji, Shino, Kankurou, Kiba, TenTen, Temari, Hinata, and Ino were outside of the castle by Hagrid's hut looking at a pen that contained a gorgeous, white, horse-like animal with a horn.

"That there is a unicorn," he explained to the stunned shinobi. "I thought today we'd start out nice an' easy. You all can pet her if you like."

Ino and TenTen immediately moved forward into the pen and started petting the beautiful creature.

Naruto made a move to pet the unicorn, but it turned its head to face him and pawed the ground menacingly. Naruto immediately jumped back.

"I should have mentioned that they don't like males as much as females. This one's a bit younger and might let you boys approach if you do it carefully."

The rest of the lesson passed wonderfully. They talked about the unicorn for a bit and then rested outside of Hagrid's hut. The girls petted the unicorn some more while the boys talked to Hagrid about what actually lived in the Forbidden Forest.

All in all, it was a rather great lesson. Though it would soon be topped.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was their next class that day. This class was huge and all the shinobi were in it as well as many Hogwarts students. The classroom had to be magically enlarged for all of them to fit comfortably.

"As you all know. I am Professor Snape and I will now be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts-" Snape began but was soon interrupted by a cough.

"And I am Professor Hatake. I will also be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts," he said from behind his orange book. The shinobi groaned, unsurprised to see that it was an Icha Icha novel. Snape meanwhile looked very angry at having been interrupted.

He continued though after looking at Kakashi to see if he would remain silent, "The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."

"So basically you have to be prepared for anything. We'll teach you counter-spells, defensive spells, some offensive spells. We'll also teach you all about the Dark Arts so that you'll have a knowledge of what you might come across. Knowledge and understanding are the keys to success after all," Kakashi spoke lazily, interrupting Snape once again.

"Yes," said Snape, obviously reluctantly, "so today we will be practicing nonverbal spells so that if you face an opponent, you can cast your spell without them knowing what you're doing-"

"Which would be pretty useful since you'd have the element of surprise on your side then," Kakashi interjected.

"Professor Hatake and I will demonstrate," Snape said through clenched teeth while looking at Kakashi. He said Professor as if he didn't think it was a fitting term to describe Kakashi. Kakashi however agreed to the demonstration and stood at the front of the class facing Snape with his wand out. In the back of the classroom the shinobi, and pretty much everyone who wasn't in Slytherin, were silently cheering Kakashi on. Naruto actually yelled words of encouragement at his sensei, who smiled underneath his mask.

And then Snape fired a spell without uttering a single word. Amazingly enough, Kakashi cast a silent spell of his own, a shield bursting from the end of his wand. The jinx Snape had sent flying at Kakashi rebounded and hit Snape before he could throw up a shield of his own. Clearly he hadn't expected Kakashi to be able to retaliate effectively.

The class roared with laughter as Snape fell down covered in boils.

"You should go get that fixed," Kakashi commented while he turned back to the class, "okay partner up and give it a go. Defensive spells only. I don't want to have to send any of you to the hospital like Professor Snape here."

Snape, who was turning red underneath his red boils, rushed from the room angrily. His cloak sweeping out of the room right behind him in an angry swell. Ron and Harry couldn't keep the joy off their faces at how brilliantly the teacher arrangement had worked out. Now they didn't have to put up with Snape all alone, and Professor Hatake seemed like a cool guy.

When the lesson was over, they headed to lunch with everyone else, talking about how brilliant the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson had been. In light of the general joy in the classroom at being rid of Snape's tormenting demeanor, a few silent spells had actually been successful. Hermione had succeeded in silently disarming Seamus and Harry had even succeeded in silently disarming Ron. The shinobi meanwhile had worked on one handed seals.

* * *

At lunch, the story of Snape's boils had spread like wildfire through the students and everyone was laughing about it.

"So, Naruto," Ino said as she took a seat next to him at the Gryffindor table, "have you decided who you want to ask to the ball yet?"

Naruto looked up at Ino and swallowed the ramen he was eating before he answered her. "Sort of," he admitted thinking about how Hinata might actually say yes to him if he asked her before anyone else could. She was really nice after all.

Ino seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him since what she said next was, "Well you better make up your mind and ask her before someone else does. Whoever she is won't wait around forever."

Then Ino got up very suddenly and pushed a startled Hinata into the seat next to Naruto she had just vacated. "I'm going to go talk to Shikamaru and Chouji at the Ravenclaw table for a bit. Have my seat Hinata," she called over her shoulder as she ran off.

Naruto smiled brightly at Hinata while she blushed furiously and stuttered a hello. They were joined almost immediately by Kiba and Lee, and then Sakura and Sasuke so any conversation between the two of them was impossible.

While they were finishing eating, a shadow appeared on the table in front of Sakura and she turned around to see Draco Malfoy standing there with a box in his hands and a smile on his face.

"I thought I'd apologize for my behaviour earlier this week," he said offering her the box that Sakura could now see were chocolates. "Maybe you'd let me take you to the ball to make up for it."

Sakura looked up at him. "Apology accepted," she said, "but your invitation is rejected. I don't want to go to the ball with you. Sorry."

"We'll see about that," Malfoy said, leaving the box of chocolates on the table next to her and hurrying off under Sasuke's glare.

Sakura shivered as he walked away.

"That guy creeps me out," Naruto commented.

"Yeah, well at least he brought chocolates," Kiba said reaching for one.

"I wouldn't touch those," Sasuke said offhandedly, "they're most likely infused with the love potion I saw him swipe this morning."

"Ew," Sakura said shivering again, "get rid of them."

Sasuke gladly took on the job blowing a small fireball at the box. When the box was almost completely gone, Naruto performed a water jutsu and put the fire out.

* * *

Ino was laughing with TenTen at the Ravenclaw table when she saw Malfoy approach Sakura. She inhaled sharply and her friends turned to look at what she was looking at. Soon enough they saw him walk away, and then Sasuke burning the box Draco had left with Sakura.

"What's that all about?" she asked no one in particular.

"Oh. He wants her to go to the dance with him," Neji answered, "I think he might have just tried to slip her some of the love potion from class this morning," he said analyzing what had just happened.

TenTen laughed, "He sounds like half the girls around here. They've all been talking of slipping you, Gaara, and Sasuke love potions so that you'll ask them to the ball."

Neji looked around reflexively to such a statement, and to his astonishment, and perhaps horror, saw a group of seventh year Ravenclaw girls looking at him, immediately turning away and bursting into giggles when he met their eyes.

"Help me," he whispered to TenTen.

"Well there's really only one way to get them off your back," she said slyly.

"What?" Neji asked desperately. Ino could see what was coming, and so could Shino, Chouji, and Shikamaru, but Neji was clueless. The only thing he was scared of seemed to be girls.

"You just have to ask someone and get it done with," she told him.

"What?" he spluttered.

"Just ask someone," she said again.

He looked at her and then somehow managed to say: "Will you go to the ball with me then, TenTen."

"I'd love to," she answered flashing a grin to Ino that went unnoticed by Neji who was too relieved to have escaped the claws of the girls of Hogwarts. The girls who had been giggling about him seconds before already looked sad. Hogwarts was notorious after all for how fast gossip traveled through its hallways.

* * *

The next few days of classes passed by rather uneventfully.

In Divination, Professor Trelawney had begun predicting Naruto's death now that Harry was gone from her class. Ino, TenTen and Temari who were also in Divination with Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru were having a blast making fun of the teacher and making up predictions to please her.

In Herbology, Sakura and Sasuke had watched with smiles on their faces as Naruto had been attacked by a plant with long tentacles. Professor Sprout, the short little witch who taught the subject, had to come along and get him out.

In Muggle Studies, the shinobi there lazily paid attention while the teacher droned on about things they were already pretty familiar with.

And the few who had signed up for History of Magic just slept.

The most fun class was by far Transfiguration, that all the shinobi, except Lee and Neji with him, had signed up for. Dumbledore had been right. Professor McGonagall had told them the first day that this year they would be focusing on human transfiguration, and was impressed when all of the shinobi had been able to change their eyebrow colors on the first try.

They had a second Defense Against the Dark Arts class Wednesday, and it was not a disappointment. Snape tried to teach, but Kakashi kept interrupting. Not only did they actually learn the material, but they also learned some brilliant swear words when Snape finally snapped at Kakashi midway through the class.

Charms was also fine enough for Sasuke and Sakura. The two sat at a table behind Ron and Harry and next to Hermione, who was all for helping them get used to using the wands.

* * *

Thursday morning came bright and early with an announcement that classes Friday had been canceled so that students could get ready for the ball. It was also a hectic morning where people were rushing around trying to get dates.

Harry had asked Luna, not knowing who else to ask, when he saw her walk into the hall that morning. Really, it wasn't necessary that he ask anyone. He didn't have to have a date or start the ball this time around, but the girls giving him sly looks were enough motivation for him to want to be spoken for.

Meanwhile, Naruto still hadn't asked Hinata even though Sakura, Ino, and Hermione had all been working since Monday morning to try to get him to. They had gotten the two sitting next to each other practically every meal and every class. They had bumped Hinata into Naruto in the hallways and in the common room. They had given Naruto obvious hints that Hinata liked him. It had reached the point where the kiddy gloves had to come off.

"Naruto," Sakura said that morning at breakfast after Hinata had stood up and left the table, "just ask Hinata to the ball already. She likes you, you know."

Naruto looked absolutely stunned at this piece of information. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes, really, you moron. Now go ask her already," Ino added from next to Sakura.

As Naruto ran out of the Hall after Hinata, Ino and Sakura began discussing who all their friends were going to the ball with.

Kiba had asked Lavender, who had said yes almost immediately and loudly right in front of Ron. Temari had told Shikamaru that he was taking her to the dance. Ino, meanwhile had convinced Gaara to go as her date. Sakura didn't know how Ino had managed to pull that one off seeing as how her and Gaara never talked. Naruto was hopefully asking Hinata right now. TenTen was going with Neji. Lee and Shino were flying solo, as were Chouji and Kankurou, and also Sasuke. Sakura didn't have a date either.

"I don't believe that no one's asked you," Ino told her in shock.

"Well, that Malfoy boy asked me. And then there were some Gryffindors who asked me, but I turned them down. I don't know them very well yet," Sakura told Ino.

"Bullshit," Ino replied shaking her head, "you're just waiting for one particular invitation."

"Even though I know it's not going to come. Sasuke doesn't dance, and he doesn't like me like that," Sakura added quietly.

"You never know," Ino said hopefully, "he might surprise you."

* * *

Naruto caught up to Hinata at the foot of the main staircase. "Hinata, wait up a second," he called.

She turned around and nearly fainted when she saw Naruto walking up to her.

"Hi, Naruto," she managed without stuttering.

He smiled at her before asking his question: "So the ball tomorrow night. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go with me...as my date?"

Hinata nearly fainted again. "Of course. I'd lo-love to go with y-you N-Naruto," she couldn't help the stutter. She couldn't believe that he was asking her. She was so happy she would have jumped in the air if she didn't think that her legs wouldn't support her landing on the ground.

"Let me walk you to class," Naruto offered as he walked off with her.

Hermione, who had seen the short exchange smiled and rushed into the Great Hall to inform Ino and Sakura of the success of Operation Orange's first installment.

Meanwhile, Naruto who walked with Hinata was thinking he would have to talk to one of his friends and get him to ask a certain pink-haired girl, who had helped direct him to Hinata, to the ball.

* * *

Ino and Sakura had gone to the bathroom together before lunch. On their way to the Great Hall, Ino stopped momentarily to read a notice pinned to the wall. In that second, a curse hit Sakura without her realizing it.

* * *

Naruto sat down next to Sasuke, who was already in the Great Hall eating some soup and watching the main doors.

"Hey teme," he called getting his friend's attention, "you should ask Sakura to the ball when you see her come in."

Sasuke glared at his friend to cover his shock. Naruto was perhaps the only person who knew what was going on in his head. The blond could read him too easily. The only other people who came close were Kakashi and Sakura.

"You know she still likes you. She never gave up on you, and I don't see why she would now. She's not going with anyone yet, though she might say yes to someone else if you don't ask her," Naruto continued ignoring Sasuke's silence.

And then Sakura walked in to the Hall, but she didn't head over to the Gryffindor table with Ino. She started walking towards the Slytherin table. Ino grabbed her arm and pointed at where their friends were sitting, but Sakura shook her off and continued walking towards the Slytherins, finally sitting down, not next to Temari, Gaara, or Kankurou, but next to Malfoy.

Anyone could easily see the shock on Naruto and Sasuke's faces. Temari, Gaara, and Kankurou were also shocked if their suspicious glares at Malfoy were any indication.

"What is she doing?" Naruto asked stupefied.

Shikamaru and Neji, who had just come in for lunch, immediately saw the gaping Naruto and followed his gaze to the nearby Slytherins, their mouths dropping open as well.

Sakura's expression wasn't strained or forced at all. She looked peaceful, with a small smile on her lips, and Draco Malfoy's arm around her shoulders.

"What the hell is she doing?" Ino asked no one in particular as she took her seat. She was soon followed by Neji and Shikamaru, and then TenTen, Chouji, and Shino walked over to join the Gryffindors as well. Temari came over too. "We were just talking about how creepy he is like fifteen minutes ago."

No one could give her an answer.

"As much as I can see why it would be useful to our mission to be close to a creep like that, I don't think a single one of us would expect that of Sakura, and she knows it," Shikamaru said after he saw her place her hand on Malfoy's arm.

"Why don't we just ask her what's up?" Chouji suggested.

"She'd tell us, wouldn't she?" Temari added.

"Well here she comes," Shino told everyone.

And sure enough Sakura was headed over to the Gryffindor table with Kankurou and Gaara - the only shinobi who weren't already there. They each were holding one of her arms and steering her over to the rest of their friends.

"Sit down," Kankurou told her and pushed her gently down into the empty spot on Sasuke's other side.

"Now tell them what you just told us," Gaara said taking a seat himself.

"I don't know what came over me," Sakura said looking down at the table. "I just remember feeling funny, and then it was like I had to go over and sit with him. He asked me to the dance again and I almost said yes. It's thanks to Kankurou and Gaara here, who came and grabbed me, that I didn't and snapped out of it."

"Do you think you were under a spell?" Lee asked.

Everyone looked at Sakura, whose eyes were still directed down into her lap.

"There's a way to tell," Harry said from next to the group of shinobi, "I couldn't help overhearing."

"Well, don't just stand there," Ino snapped at Harry, immediately apologizing for her tone, "sorry, I'm just worried about Sakura."

"Hermione, you're better at this spell than I am," Harry said beckoning Hermione over to Sakura's side.

"Just sit tight, Sakura," Hermione said pulling out her wand, "you'll feel cold for a bit, but it's nothing. Revele Incantatem."

Sakura clutched the table as she felt an intense cold spread throughout her entire body. It was like ice was running through her veins. And then it was gone. She looked up at her friends and saw that their eyes were fixed on the end of Hermione's wand.

"It's like I thought," she began slowly and with a little fear in her voice, "she was under the Imperius curse. I can't tell you who cast it, but I'd wager it was Malfoy."

"The Imperius curse?" Kiba asked confused.

"Kakashi and Snape told us about it yesterday, you moron," TenTen snapped at the poor boy, "the Imperius curse is used to get someone to do what the caster wants."

"What I don't understand," Naruto began after a second of silence, "is how Sakura couldn't fight the Imperius curse but she was able to push Ino out of her head during the preliminaries of our first exam."

Harry and Hermione were a little confused, but the shinobi all knew what Naruto was talking about and they stopped to think.

"I don't know," Ino began, "but the curse probably works in a different way than my technique. Plus you were yelling at her, and that probably helped."

"Hermione," Sakura spoke suddenly, looking up for the first time since she had joined the Gryffindor table, "can you show me how to do the Imperius curse?"

Hermione looked surprised. "What for?" Harry asked, voicing Hermione's unsaid question.

Sasuke who had caught on answered for Sakura, "She wants to practice resisting it. Show me how to cast it. The two of us have a free period now, so I'll work with her."

Sakura shot him a grateful look and nodded encouragingly at Hermione.

* * *

Naruto looked on as Sakura and Sasuke left the Great Hall so Sakura could practice resisting the Imperius curse. He just hoped that his friend would have the guts to ask Sakura to the ball tomorrow while the two of them were alone. _'If not,' he thought, 'maybe I'll have to learn how to cast the Imperius curse myself and put the big dummy under it so that I can make him do what I know he wants to do anyways.'_

"Hey, Naruto!" Ino called.

"We're going to be late for Divination," TenTen added.

"Coming!" Naruto called loudly, running to join them.

They climbed to the top of Trelawney's tower and up the ladder into the stifling room where she held their Divination classes.

"Ah, I'm so glad, so glad I was assigned the sixth year class this year," she said for what must have been the hundredth time or so when Ino, TenTen, Temari, Naruto, Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru walked in.

The first day, the woman had realized that Naruto was a great subject for death predictions, since he had tripped on a pillow and almost flown out the window. The shinobis' very creative, horrible predictions also pleased her immensely. They had seen more of the world than her after all, and were therefore able to surprise her.

"Today we will be looking at our tea leaves," she announced handing out the teacups. The shinobi drank their tea slowly and then exchanged cups. Ino and Temari swapped. TenTen swapped with Kiba, and Chouji and Shikamaru exchanged tea cups, leaving Naruto's cup for the eager Professor Trelawney.

"You'll be coming into some money," Ino giggled looking at Temari's cup, "if I'm reading this correctly. It looks like a leprechaun dancing a jig after all."

Temari snorted, "Well if I'm reading your's right, I think I see the profile of a male with a large nose, which means you're supposed to meet a handsome man tomorrow."

"Sorry, Chouji," Shikamaru said sarcastically, "it looks like you're going to get a stomach ache in the near future."

"Yeah, well you have a cloudy day in your future. I'm sure you'll love that," Chouji snickered.

"I see fleas in your future," TenTen laughed at Kiba showing him the tea leaves in his cup, "this looks like a flea, don't you agree?"

"Well I see an injury in your near future. I think a cut...from a short knife," Kiba suggested while trying to hold back his own howls.

"Let's see what's in Naruto's future," Ino said grabbing Naruto's cup from his hands, "hmm, I see a great fall."

"My turn," Naruto said grabbing Ino's cup from Temari. "It doesn't look at all like a leprechaun dancing a jig. I think it's more like a blonde girl stomping on some poor guy's foot. I should go warn Gaara."

As Ino reached to strangle Naruto amidst Chouji and Kiba's loud laughter, Trelawney drifted into view and snatched Naruto's teacup off the table.

"Oh my. Oh my, oh my, oh my," she began. Now all the shinobi were holding back their laughter. "This is bad, my dear. Your tea leaves are obviously in the form of a knife. Someone is out to get you. You should watch your back."

Lavender and Parvati were holding on to her every word, and called Trelawney over after her prediction of Naruto's enemy to help them read their tea leaves. Naruto and his friends immediately burst into laughter the second she was gone.

"What a crackpot!" Naruto exclaimed. "Everyone has some sort of enemy. That is the most generic prediction ever."

"Come on, Naruto," Kiba grabbed his partner in crime's attention, "let's see if we can steal a crystal ball from the batty Professor."

* * *

"Again!" Sakura exclaimed, sweat shining on her forehead.

Sasuke looked at her and let a smile grace his face. Of course he knew already that she was tough and not prone to giving up. Look how far she had gotten when he had left her. When Sakura was determined, there was no way to stop her. So he raised his wand, pointed it at Sakura, and said, "Imperio!"

The feeling of blissful ignorance immediately entered Sakura's head. She felt relaxed and was only semi-aware of Sasuke standing in front of her.

And then she heard Sasuke's voice, echoing in her head: Jump onto the chair.

And once again she bent her knees preparing to jump.

Why? Another voice had awoken in her head this time. The same voice that had driven Ino out. It sounds like a pretty dumb thing to do.

Sasuke's voice echoed in her head again: Jump onto the chair.

I don't think I will, Sakura's inner self said.

And then Sakura was jumping but trying to stop herself from jumping. Sasuke caught her as she landed awkwardly on her feet before she could fall.

"Almost had it that time," Sakura said weakly.

"Sakura, why do you think you almost had it that time?" Sasuke asked her as he settled her in the chair they had been using as a prop.

"I don't know," she sighed, "part of my head was ignorant of what was going on, but another part was really unhappy with what was happening."

"Try focusing on bringing that part of you into your head when you feel the effects of the curse," Sasuke suggested.

"Okay. Again," Sakura said standing up.

Sasuke let a smirk come onto his face and then he cast the curse again, "Imperio!"

Sakura felt the hazy bliss again and heard the command: Jump onto the chair.

She thought about doing what he said, but also about bringing forward the stronger voice in her head, like Sasuke had told her to try.

No, the voice said. And Sakura repeated what the voice was saying, "No."

Jump onto the chair, she heard again.

This time the voice yelled in her head and she repeated the sentiment, "No!"

Suddenly she was very aware of Sasuke standing right in front of her.

"You did it," he congratulated her, helping her once again into the chair.

"Yeah," she said breathing hard, "a few more times practicing and I think I'll be protected from the curse for sure."

"You need to take a break now," he said, anticipating her command of again.

"Fine," she huffed, "it's your turn then," she finished drawing her wand.

Sasuke sighed heavily, but stood, confident in his ability to shake the curse. Sakura smiled at him, and from her seat, she raised her wand and said the curse Sasuke had been directing at her for the last half hour, "Imperio!"

And it was Sasuke's turn to feel the ignorant bliss. He was barely aware of Sakura sitting right in front of him, all he was truly aware of was her voice: Come shake my hand.

He walked forward and shook her hand and then the hazy bliss faded.

"Not so easy," Sakura commented offhandedly with a huge smile on her flushed face.

"Again," he grunted walking a few steps away from her.

Sakura laughed, but dutifully raised her hand and cast the Imperius curse again.

Come shake my hand.

No, a voice in Sasuke's head said this time. He walked until he was right in front of Sakura, but didn't stretch his hand out to shake her's.

"Better," she commented, "you're getting it way faster than me anyways. Again?"

Sasuke walked away from her again and nodded his head.

After another fifteen minutes, Sasuke could beat the Imperius curse. Another ten minutes of practice followed for Sakura to insure that she could beat it every time with ease. Then the two headed to the Gryffindor common room to rest a bit before their next class.

While they were sitting on one of the couches reading books, Sakura curled up at one end, and Sasuke sitting up straight at the other end, Sasuke closed his book and turned to Sakura. "I want to test you one more time," he told her.

"Alright," she said, sitting up, and closing her own book and putting it down on the table in front of them, while Sasuke pulled out his wand. It was grey now from all the use it had seen in the last hour.

"Imperio!"

And she heard the words in her head: Say you'll go to the ball with me.

She snapped out of it almost immediately and looked at Sasuke before speaking. "I'll go to the ball with you," she said shyly while holding his gaze. Then she picked up her book and rested her feet on the armrest where her head had been, resting her head now against Sasuke's arm. And the two of them sat like that in relative peace until Naruto came bursting into the common room. Sakura immediately sat up and curled back into her side of the couch.

"We have Herbology in ten minutes," he said looking at the two of them suspiciously.

"I'll just go get my book bag then," Sakura quickly excused herself and headed up to her room.

"So did you ask her?" Naruto questioned his best friend when Sakura had left.

"Something like that," Sasuke answered.

"But you're going together," Naruto wanted clarification.

"Yeah."

"Well that's great news!" Naruto cheered. "I'm going with Hinata and you're going with Sakura. It'll be fun, like the festivals back home." Then, almost as an afterthought he added, "Just remember that if you break her heart again, even though you're my best friend, I will take it upon myself to break you."

Sasuke smiled - he seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

* * *

**Authoress' Notes: Please review. I can only ask, but I hope that you will. I also hope you liked that longer chapter that I wrote just for all of you. Hopefully I'll have the next one posted for you soon.  
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	10. The Story of the Ball

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto or Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing this for all my lovely readers.**

**Authoress' Notes: It's been longer than I promised. I suck. But with last minute scholarship applications and a family vacation, I didn't have time to write in the summer after the last chapter I posted, and then university started. I warn you now - stay away from life sciences unless it's what you really want to do...it's so much work!  
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**As always, thanks to everyone whose stuck with my sporadic updates. I can't forget this story and I hope that I will learn to manage my schedule better and get cracking on cranking out chapters for you. It's kind of interesting how many other crossover stories have popped up with identical names or very similar names to mine since I started. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I guess. I don't read the Naruto/Harry Potter crossover stories anymore though since I'm afraid they'll influence my ideas...which is sad cause I love them. Recommend any outstanding ones though - I'd hate to be missing out.  
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**And since no one responded last time (I'm kind of sad about that) I'm still willing to try and write a story or a oneshot or something on commission - by that I don't mean you pay me obviously, but I mean you send me your ideas in e-mails or messages, preferably not reviews, and I'll pick one (first come first serve unless I have a strong objection against the topic) and try and write it.**

**I'd also like to direct any Sakura lovers to the first chapter of a story I've been working on in my spare time for the last year. The story is called Sakura's Story and I've already typed maybe 160 pages of it and I'm really happy with how that one's working out. The first chapter is up to test reader response. I'll continue with it regardless for my own personal benefit, but the amount of attention I spend on it...is determined by popularity.**

**This story is the same. If no one's interested, I'll focus more on my other ideas.**

**Oh. And warning: Sakura/Sasuke haters and Naruto/Hinata haters might dislike this chapter...but it is my story and you have had fair warning to the couples.  
**

**Now, we're live again in 3...2...1...ACTION! (Man it feels good to say that!)  
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**

* * *

**Friday morning, Harry woke up to the sound of Naruto bouncing around the room looking for his shoes.

"Stupid sneakers had to go and get lost," Naruto mumbled under his breath as he took everything from his trunk trying to find the elusive pair of shoes.

Harry laughed as he watched Naruto tear apart his corner of the room.

"Try this," he suggested as he took his wand from his night stand: "Accio Naruto's shoes." The shoes immediately came zooming out from underneath Kiba's bed.

"I'll kill him," the blond boy mumbled while slipping them on.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked him. "You do know we don't have classes today, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered, "but I promised Sakura I'd meet her and Hermione in the Great Hall for an early breakfast. Want to come?"

"Why not?" Harry answered and quickly threw on some clothes and a pair of sneakers.

The two boys met Hermione and Sakura downstairs in the common room and then headed to breakfast.

"So why are you eating so early anyways?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Oh, well Sakura and I have decided to undertake a little special project, and we thought we could get some work done this morning before getting ready for the ball," she answered him with a grin.

"What kind of special project?" asked Harry.

Sakura laughed and put a finger to her lips: "It's a secret until we're done."

Now of course, Harry and Naruto were more intrigued than before and all through breakfast kept trying to get the two girls to tell them what they were doing. But Hermione and Sakura wouldn't talk about it and left the table as soon as they had finished eating.

"Why did I have to be here again?" Naruto called after them as they hurried away. They just giggled and kept going.

"So what do you want to do?" Naruto asked Harry while they watched Sakura and Hermione dash for the main doors.

"Visit Hagrid?" Harry suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Naruto replied and walked with Harry outside to Hagrid's hut with Naruto asking Harry questions about Quidditch.

"So you really play up in the air on broomsticks?" Naruto asked for the third time after Harry had explained what he did as the team's seeker.

"Yes," Harry answered, "I'll take you flying sometime. It's fun."

"I don't know," Naruto said wearily, "I ended up on a broomstick in Diagon Alley and it was sort of a disaster."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Harry continued, "we can go right before I hold the Quidditch tryouts tomorrow morning if you think you'll be up for it after tonight."

"Alright," Naruto conceded when they reached Hagrid's door. Harry was the one who raised his hand to knock.

"Who is it?" Hagrid called from inside.

"It's me," Harry answered, "and a friend."

"I'm busy," the half-giant mumbled, "go away."

"Hagrid, come on. Open up. You told me to come visit you for tea," Naruto yelled through the closed door.

The two boys heard some footsteps inside and then the sound of a lock turning. The door hinges creaked as Hagrid opened the door a crack.

"Hello, Naruto. Harry, I'm surprised you wanted ter come see me," Hagrid said hurtfully.

"Look Hagrid. I'm really sorry. And Ron and Hermione are too. We would have taken Care of Magical Creatures but we just have too much else to do. I'm taking Potions and Charms, and Transfiguration and Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts all so I can be an auror. I barely have any free time what with all the homework I'm getting - and it's only the first week," Harry explained quickly.

"Oh, all right," Hagrid said opening the door and crushing Harry in a hug, "I figured it was something like that. You wouldn' just abandon me."

Harry and Naruto sat while Hagrid made up some tea and told them about Aragog, who was sick. Naruto was fascinated by the tales of the giant spider and kept asking Hagrid questions about it to Hagrid's obvious delight. Harry listened comfortably in near silence to the chatter next to him, glad that Hagrid was no longer angry at him.

While in Hagrid's hut, Harry also realized that Naruto was very easy to like. His friendliness as well as his determination and optimism made him a very likeable guy. Harry had seen the blond tackle a plant in Herbology, without magic, after the plant had bested him twice. Not only was it funny, but the gleam in Naruto's eyes when he succeeded in taking the pods from the plant on the third try was nothing short of impressive. Harry was glad that he had this kind of guy on his side and watching out for him.

Then Harry thought of all the other ninjas. He hadn't told Hermione or Ron yet about who the exchange students really were, but was planning on revealing that piece of news this weekend sometime. It was weird to think that he had that many people covering his back at Hogwarts, but also comforting. And hopefully they would discover some useful information that the Order hadn't managed to dig up while they were in England.

"You two should go back up to the castle so you can get ready for the ball," Hagrid said after an hour or so.

"Hagrid, we're not girls. It doesn't take us all day to get ready for a dance," Harry retorted, but him and Naruto both got up to go, shaking Hagrid's giant hand before leaving.

"I like him," Naruto declared as they made their way back inside.

"So do I," Harry said simply and the boys lapsed into a comfortable silence until they reached the castle and passed through the front doors.

More students were awake now, and the excited chatter about the evening's ball was deafening. Already, Harry and Naruto could see girls in hysterics who hadn't been asked, and still other girls and guys who were making last minute attempts to secure dates. Chatter about who was wearing what and who needed how long to get ready was also emerging from every corner where girls were gathered, and macho comments about who would be scoring that evening seemed to be coming from the guys.

"Naruto!" Ino screeched from the top of the staircase.

Naruto looked blankly at Ino as she ran down the stairs and grabbed the poor boys hands, squeezing them tightly. "Where are Sakura and Hermione?" she asked him finally.

Naruto pulled his hands out of Ino's grasp before telling her: "I don't know."

"But I have to find them!" Ino whined looking now at Harry. "You wouldn't happen to know where they are would you?" she turned her questioning to him.

"Sorry, no," Harry answered her and Ino immediately looked crestfallen so Harry offered her the little help he could give, "but this is Hermione we're talking about, and her and Sakura are apparently on some kind of mission. I'd bet Hermione would start any mission in the library."

"Thanks!" she exclaimed running off.

"That was strange. Even for Ino," Naruto commented.

"No kidding," Harry replied, noticing his own friend, Ron, coming down the stairs looking groggy and heading straight for the food in the Great Hall, not even seeing him. "Sorry to ditch you Naruto, but Ron's here and-"

"Hey, no problem!" Naruto exclaimed. "I need to go bug my friends anyways. I haven't thoroughly annoyed Sasuke in several hours. Don't get into trouble." And that quickly, Naruto was racing off to find the other ninjas.

Harry meanwhile strode into the Great Hall where he sat down next to Ron who was shoveling food into his mouth and grunted his hello.

"Wow," Harry commented. "Hungry, are you?"

"Nervous," Ron answered when his mouth was empty. "And when I'm nervous, I eat."

"What on earth are you nervous about?" Harry asked genuinely curious as to what could have his friend so on edge.

"Mum's sending my new dress robe today. Post's been delayed to lunch since half the castle slept in because of the cancelled classes. I'm going to see my fate in a few short hours."

"I'm sure it won't be any worse than the one you wore to the Yule Ball in fourth year," Harry tried to cheer Ron up.

Ron just gulped down more food. "We'll see," he answered.

* * *

"There you are!" Ino shrieked as she came into the library.

Mme Pince shot her an annoyed look and put a finger to her lips to signal the silence she requested. Ino rolled her eyes but walked over to Hermione and Sakura first and lowered her voice considerably when she spoke to them again. "I've been looking for you since I woke up. We only have so many hours left until the ball and in that time we have to make ourselves look fabulous."

"Ino," Sakura started slowly, rolling up the parchment in front of her and putting it in the bag next to her, "we haven't even gotten our dresses yet. They're supposed to be coming by owl post at lunch."

"But we need to start preparing," Ino whined, "like finding a place where we can all get ready together, you, me, Hermione, TenTen, Hinata and Temari. We can't exactly use the Gryffindor sixth year girls' dorm room. First of all, TenTen and Temari can't come then, and second of all, then I have to deal with Lavender."

Hermione now looked at Ino in shock. "But you've been talking to her all week," Hermione stated.

"Which is why I know that tonight she'll be insufferable," Ino answered her, "I know she's trying to make someone jealous which means that she'll be insane. Leave it at that."

Hermione looked confused, but accepted Ino's answer, an idea popping into her head suddenly: "I know a place we can all meet."

"Oh, where?" Ino gushed and even Sakura was looking on curiously.

"Just tell the girls to come with us after lunch. All they'll need is their dresses. Don't worry about anything else. I've got it covered," Hermione answered.

Now Ino and Sakura were really curious. "Nothing else?" Sakura asked.

"No makeup? No hair products? Nothing?" Ino clarified.

"Nothing," Hermione answered, "don't worry."

"Sounds like a plan then," Ino said standing up, "I'll go let the other girls know. See you at lunch." And she disappeared as quickly as she had swept into the library.

"So where are we going? Like a magic salon or something?" Sakura asked Hermione.

"Something like that," Hermione answered thinking of what she would ask the room of requirement to produce for her. "Now," she said, turning her attention back to the book on the table in front of her, "the only thing I've come up with so far for identifying someone who means you harm is a sneakoscope. But even then, it only works if the person is near. And say you were in a room with a bunch of people it couldn't tell you who specifically had it out for you."

"But how does a sneakoscope work then?" Sakura asked her. "I mean some kind of enchantments need to be cast on it, right?"

"I guess," Hermione answered. "I've never really thought about it."

"Maybe we could figure out what kind of spells or whatever are cast on it to make it work. That could only help us, right?" Sakura suggested excitedly.

"Why are you so interested in this?" Hermione asked Sakura suddenly.

"Why are you?" Sakura asked back looking into Hermione's eyes and seeing the same thing reflected there that was in her own. Fear. Caution. A desire to protect her loved ones. "I've heard about what's going on here in England," Sakura began her explanation knowing she couldn't tell this girl the whole truth, but revealing what she could, "and it makes me nervous. People are dying and it seems like nothing's being done to stop it. I worry for my friends and I want to find another way to keep them safe if I can."

"Me too," Hermione answered with a sigh as she thought back to last night when Sakura had come to her with her odd request: to help her find a way to identify people with bad intentions towards any specific individual. Hermione hadn't even questioned the reason behind the request. She had agreed because the idea intrigued her as well.

"Come on," Sakura said closing the book and extending her hand to Hermione, "we'll keep working on it later."

Hermione took her hand and stood up grabbing the book with her other. Then she let go of Sakura's hand and linked the arm attached to it with Sakura's as they left the library and started walking back to the Gryffindor common room.

"You know," Hermione said to Sakura as they walked, "I've never really had any real girlfriends."

Sakura gave her a funny look to which Hermione responded: "You know, gossiping at night, getting ready for outings together, linking arms down the hallway."

"But you've been living with teenage girls for the last five years," Sakura reasoned.

"When I was younger," Hermione began explaining, "I was a bookworm and a know-it-all. I didn't get close to the other girls, and once I started acting a little less pretentious, I got close to Harry and Ron and spent most of my time with them. I'm fine around the other girls, but we've never been close, you know? I mean, I hang out with Ron's sister Ginny sometimes and talk with her, but it's not the same."

"Well, now you've got me," Sakura stated.

Hermione smiled brightly at Sakura. "And in the last week, you've given me a taste of what I've missed," Hermione continued. "I mean I meet you, and you're nice right away. Then I see you hit Malfoy and on top of that you're capable of having an intelligent conversation. Before I can even figure out when we became friends, you're pulling me into secret operations, gossiping with me, and now I'm getting ready for a ball with you and your friends."

"They're your friends too," Sakura told her, "Ino and Hinata both like you very much. I mean, Ino invited you to get ready with us without a second thought. She'd never do that if she didn't like you. And she's trusting you with something she deems crucial to tonight's success. You don't know Ino like I do. That's huge. And Hinata's just always been a shy person. The fact that she doesn't stutter around you means that she's comfortable around you. TenTen and Temari on the other hand don't know you yet like we do because they aren't your roommates, but they're both amazing people who like smart, strong girls. You'll get along great."

"I might be smart," Hermione said after listening to Sakura, "but I'm not strong."

"Where I come from," Sakura explained with a smile, "intelligence is revered as one of the most powerful tools you can have. Not to mention that I've heard rumors about what sort of adventures you, Harry, and Ron have had. What happened at the Ministry for example. You are strong and don't ever let anyone make you think differently."

"You make it sound like a breeze," Hermione sighed, "but it's so easy to doubt yourself."

"Oh, I know it's not easy. I was book-smart and not very good with the practical techniques at my old school. I used to watch my friends' backs, seeing them improve before my very eyes while I was left behind. Then I stopped thinking about how weak I was and focused on making myself strong by believing I was. You just have to believe it," Sakura finished as they reached the portrait of the fat lady.

"Love is in the air," Hermione said to the woman.

"Of course it is," the woman said laughing giddily as her portrait swung open to reveal the common room. The password had been changed that morning to match the atmosphere in the castle. Hermione and Sakura both snorted as they walked into the common room, and then they burst out into louder laughter when they saw Kiba chasing Naruto around the room barefoot demanding to know where his shoes were.

* * *

"I can't wait! I can't wait!" Ino said bouncing around in her seat next to Hermione.

Hermione laughed with Sakura, who sat across from Ino, and saw that Hinata though not laughing, was smiling brightly.

"What can't you wait for now?" Sakura asked her. "The dress? The getting ready? The ball? The gossiping afterwards?"

"All of it!" Ino giggled. "We haven't been to a big party in a while. This is going to be so much fun."

Sakura agreed. It had been a while since she had just relaxed and had a good time. Tonight would hopefully meet her minimalist expectations and just be fun.

"The post is here," Hinata said pointing to the sky where the owls were now streaming in dropping off letters and many more packages than usual. Seven of the package bearing owls came to the Konoha shinobi at the Gryffindor table.

Lee took his package from the owl almost as excitedly as Ino, beginning to rip open the paper.

"Stop!" Ino's voice commanded him and he abruptly dropped his package. The other shinobi at the Gryffindor table turned to look at Ino. She had the decency to blush for her commanding tone but she continued on anyways, "We want it to be a surprise when we see you all dressed up. Come on Hermione, Sakura, Hinata. Let's go before they spoil it."

The girls stood following Ino. As they left the Great Hall together, Temari and TenTen came to join them with their wrapped packages.

"Girls are weird," Kiba commented while Naruto peeked inside the wrappings of his parcel.

"Ah man," Naruto complained, "it's not orange."

"So there is some kind of god," Sasuke spoke under his breath, though Naruto heard him clearly enough. Before he could retort though, there was a loud exclamation from next to him and he looked to find Ron dancing happily next to the Gryffindor table.

"It's not hideous," Ron said as he showed his robe to Harry, who had to admit that the formal robe was in no way hideous. It was simple, but nice. And no lace this time around. Nor any maroon in sight.

"And it's black. I love my Mum," he sighed as he took his seat next to Harry.

Harry who had a dark green dress robe thanks to Mrs. Weasley shopping on his behalf couldn't complain either. The robe was completely inoffensive, and even better, wouldn't make him stand out from the crowd.

* * *

"Where are the girls during all of this?" Shikamaru asked Shino as they sat under a tree by the lake watching Lee, Kiba, Naruto, Kankurou, and Chouji play an intense game of free for all dodge ball. Sasuke was in the branches of the tree above them watching the game with mild interest. Gaara and Neji sat under the tree next to them.

"I believe TenTen said they were all going to get ready together in some secret location," Shino answered him, tossing another ball from the bag they had brought with them out at Naruto.

"What is it with girls and primping? They're ninjas," Neji wondered tossing yet another ball out into the fray so that now there were ten between the five ninjas playing.

"They don't get to do this at home very often," Gaara pointed out, "they're always busy being kunoichi first and teenage girls second."

"I guess the least we can do then is make sure we're clean and ready to go when it's time tonight," Shikamaru offered.

"Hn," Sasuke answered right before he was nailed by a ball. He looked around and saw Naruto grinning brightly dancing around.

"I got Sasuke! I got Sasuke!" he sung as he moved. "I thought you were supposed to be a great ninja," Naruto continued taunting.

Sasuke hopped down from the branch he was on and picked up the ball that had hit him. "You are so dead," he told Naruto before running after him. Naruto just laughed as he ran, yelping when the ball that Sasuke had picked up smacked him on the ass. Gaara snorted at Naruto getting beamed by the rubber ball, and then before he could react, Naruto had fired a ball at him.

Suddenly all ten boys were playing with all thirty of the balls they had brought out. They were pelting each other as enthusiastically as little kids playing dodge ball in a school playground. Naruto was running away now from Gaara and Sasuke who had teamed up and were out to get him. The boys were so into the game that they didn't realize they were being watched.

* * *

"So what are we waiting for?" TenTen asked while they stood in an empty seventh floor corridor in front of a picture of a guy trying to teach some trolls ballet.

"Just making sure I know exactly what we need," Hermione said as she clarified with Ino.

"Showers, toothpaste and toothbrushes, face masks, nail polish, hair products, makeup, needles and thread, a selection of shoes, a selection of jewelry, a selection of other accessories like shawls, purses, and hair stuff, and comfy chairs," Ino said going through the list in her head of what she'd like to have her hands on.

"Okay, I've got it now I think," Hermione said as she paced in front of the wall across the portrait three times. And suddenly, a white french door with frosted windows and a silver handle appeared in the wall. "Well who wants to open it?" Hermione asked.

Ino reached excitedly for the handle and pulled it open to reveal perhaps the room of her dreams. "Oh-" Ino started.

"Wow!" Temari finished.

One of the square room's walls had a large window that let in so much natural light that the room was as bright as could be. Then there were six white vanity mirrors set up along another wall with their own individual lights and high stools in front of them. Pots of all sorts of makeups and creams were piled high on the table surfaces. Another table in the middle of the room held a variety of nail polish colours, while still another table was the home of a ton of hair products. The carpet was a pale purple and there were white and dark purple beanbags everywhere, as well as a deep purple couch. The last wall had two doors in it, both wide open to reveal what was inside the rooms behind them. One was a closet that they could see jewelry, shoes, and accessories inside, the other was a bathroom with a large tub, six sinks, and six showers. On the purple couch there were six light purple bath robes each with one of their names stitched on it. In a corner out of the way there was a tree with spools of thread on its branches instead of leaves, and needles sticking from the ground it was potted in. Right by the door they had come in were some pegs where they could hang their dresses - the very first thing they did.

"Wow," Sakura breathed echoing Temari's word. "This is perfect."

"Yeah," TenTen added, "thanks Hermione."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Ino commented.

The girls grabbed bath robes and strode into the bathroom where they began their primping for the evening.

After about an hour, everyone was showered, shaved, had their teeth brushed, and their face masks done. Now they were sitting in the bean bag chairs moisturizing.

"Hey, guys! Come and look," Hinata called from the window they had opened earlier with a smile on her face.

Everyone moved to the window to see what she was looking at and started laughing, because there on the grass, running around throwing balls at each other, were the Konoha boys.

"Ouch," Hermione giggled as she saw Lee get hit by three balls aimed at him by Neji.

"Do you guys want to see something funny?" Sakura asked under a sudden flash of genius. She ran back to her pile of clothes and grabbed her nearly white wand from the pile.

"Come on," Temari urged her, "tell us what you have in mind!"

"Watch!" Sakura laughed excitedly as she used a spell she had picked up in Charms. "Accio balls!"

Suddenly, all thirty balls the boys had been using zoomed up to the window and landed lightly in the room. The girls howled with laughter, Hinata giggling, as they watched the boys looking up at their window stupefied.

Down below, the shinobi had stopped to watch the dodge balls fly up and into a seventh story window seemingly of their own accord.

"What the hell!" Naruto exclaimed looking stunned. Everyone else's faces matched his.

"Give them back!" Kiba yelled as loudly as he could at the open window.

"If that's what you want!" TenTen yelled down at the boys, looking to Sakura and now Hermione who also had her wand out.

"Geminio," Hermione muttered pointing her wand at the pile of balls which immediately doubled in size.

"Alright, we'll take half and just go for it," Ino said, "and can you guys make sure the other half hit them."

"Just not too hard," Hinata reminded, "we are seven stories up."

"Remember the banishing charm, Sakura?" Hermione asked the pink haired girl.

Sakura smiled brightly before saying, "Oh yeah."

"Bombs away!" Ino yelled.

The boys down on the ground didn't know what hit them. First, about thirty balls rained down from the window, though they dodged them easily enough as they smacked the ground hard. After the first rain of thirty balls though, which should have been it, they relaxed and let down their guard.

"Watch out!" Kankurou suddenly called as more balls rained down from the window. But these ones weren't moving as fast as the other ones, and they weren't falling straight to the ground either. They were moving right for the shinobi. The boys tried to outrun them, but the balls were persistent not falling to the ground until they had smacked their targets. The boys looked back up to the window where they could now see all six of the girls' heads, Sakura's pink hair making it obvious who the culprits were.

"Sorry," Temari called, "they just slipped!"

The girls burst into laughter, shutting the window behind them in case the boys figured out how to retaliate.

"That was fun!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What? Have you never pranked before?" TenTen asked incredulously.

"Not really," Hermione answered.

"We have so much to teach you," Temari said looking at Hermione and slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Not until after the ball," Ino interjected now. "We still have toenails and fingernails to paint, hair to style, makeup to do, dresses to put on, and accessories and shoes to pick."

* * *

The boys started getting ready about a half hour before they needed to be downstairs to meet the girls outside the Great Hall, having already displaced the dodgeball incident to the back of their minds. They showered and brushed their teeth, threw on their dress robes, and made their hair look presentable. Then they headed to meet their friends and dates.

Already many of the students were crowded at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the doors of the Great Hall to open. Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, and Lee were the last of the boys to come down, going immediately to stand with Chouji, Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, Gaara, and Kankurou.

"They're not here yet?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Nope," Chouji answered him.

"But the doors are opening in five minutes," Kiba complained.

"They're probably just trying to express their youthfulness to the best of their capabilities," Gai yelled as Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi, Tsunade, and himself approached the group of boys.

"Granny, you're back!" Naruto yelled.

Tsunade's eye twitched but she didn't respond to the 'granny' comment. "Just for tonight's ball, Naruto. Now don't you guys look nice."

And so they did.

The boys dress robes were very similar in style, but each one had a different look to it. Chouji's robe was red with bronze shimmering leaves stitched on the sleeves and at the bottom of it while Shikamaru's robe was a sky blue with white clouds that floated along the bottom hem and the ends of his sleeves. Then of course there were Lee's and Neji's robes, both a shade of green, Lee's the same colour as his spandex suit and Neji's so dark a green it was almost black. On the edges of Lee's robes, gold stars twinkled, while Neji's were edged by white birds flying around. Shino and Kiba's robes were both black. Shino's had a collar that he had raised covering the bottom half of his face and his robe was simply trimmed in gold. Kiba's on the other hand had a set of silver paw prints at the bottom, and on each sleeve, that traveled around as if a dog were walking on his dress clothes, leaving paw prints every time it stepped that started fading once they were made. The brothers from Suna, Gaara and Kankurou, had respective robes of aqua, with hourglasses that kept flipping at the edges, and navy blue, with rippling waves on the sleeves and at the bottom. Naruto's robe, though not fully orange to his dismay, was black with bright orange flames that literally danced around the bottom of the robe and the edges of his sleeves. Lastly, Sasuke's robe was a midnight blue with small silver fireworks that kept silently exploding at his sleeve cuffs and at the bottom of the robe.

"You guys look good too," Naruto offered.

Kakashi, Asuma, and Gai were all in robes similar to the boys. Kakashi's were a pale grey with yellow leaves sparkling at the hems, Gai's were the same colour as Lee's with the same twinkling gold stars, and Asuma's were midnight blue like Sasuke's but with foggy grey clouds drifting around the edges sort of like Shikamaru's. Kurenai and Tsunade were both in floor length black dresses. Tsunade's was modest with long sleeves and a boat-neck cut that covered most of her massive breasts. The dress' bodice was tight at the top while the skirt tapered out and flowed towards the floor. Kurenai's was a little less modest, in that it was a lower cut halter dress that hugged her body all the way to the floor with a single slit up to her knee on one side.

"Thank you, Naruto," Kakashi said, "I know I do look ravishing tonight. But maybe you should turn your gaze to the top of the staircase. I think your date's here and I'm sure your compliments would be better spent on her."

Naruto spun his head and his jaw dropped, as did many of the males' jaws in the hall. In fact, everyone's heads were turned to the six girls at the top of the staircase. The doors were about to swing open and they were the last ones to arrive, the only ones on the staircase, as per Ino's plan. She was all for making big entrances.

Hermione came down the stairs first, in a strapless bright pink dress with triangles cut out of the sides. The bodice was tight and hugged her until her hips. At her hips the skirt flared out and swished to the floor. The black three inch heels that Ino had made her wear were chunky enough that she didn't feel like she was going to fall every step she took. Her hair was in sleek curls thanks to the other girls' help, half of it pulled back. A small tiara was placed there, and the glittering stones on it matched the single bracelet on her wrist. A charcoal shawl fell loosely from her shoulders. She made her way straight over to Ron who was gaping at the sight of her.

Temari was next to descend and she was a vision in a shorter black dress. It was strapless and tight, coming down to her knees. A slit went up one side to high thigh. With the dress' shorter length, it was easy to see the dangerous heels Temari wore: three inch stilettos that were held to her feet by a series of tied ribbons, the final ribbons wrapping around her legs until mid calf. Her neck was adorned by several very thin silver chains and her shoulder length hair had been straightened, her bangs covering her forehead. She smiled at Shikamaru who actually rushed over to offer her his arm and take her black shawl from her.

TenTen descended next in a shiny blue black dress. It was strapless as well with an empire waist marked by a black ribbon. The skirt flowed from there until it ended just below her knees. Her shoes were simple, two inch black heels with small white flowers on them that matched the white flower in her hair - that had been left alone to flow down her back. The girls had made it mildly wavy and it looked stunning. TenTen wore some pearl bracelets around her wrist, and had a white shawl as well. Neji was speechless - and this time it was not by choice. He barely remembered to go escort TenTen.

Hinata came down after TenTen and she looked so un-Hinata like. Her hair had been done by Ino, most of it twisted up into an elegant knot held in place by two senbon needles, while the front pieces had been curled. Her dress fell to the floor and was a wonderful, rich shade of purple. It had off the shoulder sleeves and a tight top that at the waist burst into a long flowing skirt. There was also a purple ribbon tied right beneath her breasts that ended in a bow. The entire effect was that she looked sweet. She had a cream coloured shawl that hung around her shoulders and little stumpy purple heels with silver butterflies on them whose wings actually flapped. She wore white elbow length gloves. Naruto ran and took her hand and kissed it, making Hinata blush profusely and effectively snapping Neji out of his trance.

Ino descended the steps next in a dress that was a bright aqua colour. It was strapless and floor length, hugging her curves from the top of her breasts to her knees, where it flared out just a little bit. Her long blonde hair was down and wavy, her bangs falling into her eye. She wasn't wearing any jewelry, though she had a golden shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Her shoes were gold stilettos that she placed carefully on each step making sure not to fall. She looked fabulous and she knew it. Gaara seemed to agree if his nod of approval meant anything before he tucked her arm in his.

Sakura was the last one to descend the stairs, a spot Ino would have taken for herself except that she knew how much Sakura still liked Sasuke (Ino had grown out of her own crush) and she was trying her absolute best to help her best friend make some impact on the Uchiha. She had been surprised when Sakura had told her that he had asked her to the ball, but Ino didn't dare hope that Sasuke would dance much with Sakura. So she was trying her best to make sure that Sasuke had every reason to want to. With the help of Hinata, Temari, TenTen, and Hermione, Ino had transformed Sakura into an absolute angel. Hermione had helped make Sakura's hair grow and TenTen and Temari together had curled it so that she looked elegant. Hinata had afterwards placed a bunch of small diamond drops all throughout Sakura's hair so that it shimmered as she walked. Her makeup was barely there, her pale skin, red lips and green eyes needing not much more accent. Ino couldn't take credit for her entire look though.

The dress Sakura had picked and the fabric were very responsible for how good she looked. The white fabric shimmered in even the worst light and the dress itself made her look like a princess. It was strapless, exposing the very top of her breasts, and hugged her body until it erupted into a floor length skirt that looked like the bell of some flower. The silver accents on the bodice of the dress in the shape of small sakura flowers just added to the creation. Sakura had a single necklace of diamonds around her neck and silver shoes that tied to her feet like Temari's - though you couldn't see them under her skirt. A silver shawl billowed around her shoulders. She held the railing tightly as she descended the stairs, making sure not to fall and was met at the bottom by Sasuke who offered her his hand which she gladly took.

Ino sighed her appreciation like so many of the males in the room had done at the sight of the six beautiful ladies. She had done well with Sakura, Hinata, TenTen, Temari, Hermione, and of course herself. Her proof was in the gossip and envious stares from the other girls there as well as the drooling boys. The fact that Sakura and Sasuke looked wonderful together and the look of appreciation on Sasuke's face that she hadn't missed were further proof of her talent.

Naruto meanwhile had caught not only the appreciation in Sasuke's eyes, but also the adoration that he figured was also in his own eyes. Hinata looked absolutely beautiful and Naruto felt like he was the luckiest guy in the world to be her date tonight. He told her so and she blushed again, thanking him without stuttering.

As soon as Sakura and Sasuke joined their friends, the doors to the Great Hall swung open and the students were suddenly rushing in to take their seats in the transformed hall. The enchanted sky showed the bright colours from the setting sun so that a glowing pink light was cast on the white marble floor and the small tables that had replaced the house ones. These tables were covered in white table cloths and surrounded by ten chairs, each that were a brilliant silver. On each table was a vase of red and silver roses, and in the air around the tables hung small white candles. Around the walls of the great hall hung more twinkling lights and garlands of flowers. The back doors of the room were wide open to reveal a garden with rose bushes, winding paths, and more twinkling lights. The noise of a fountain could be heard if you walked past the open doors. The sun could also be seen descending over the Forbidden Forest through them.

While everyone took their seats, Sasuke and Sakura lagged behind with Naruto and Hinata. Sasuke looked a little embarrassed as he pulled something out from his robe and offered it to Sakura. She meanwhile looked at it stunned, and then turned her stunned gaze to Sasuke because in his hand sat a sparkling bracelet with a collection of pristine sakura flowers on it and some curling silver ribbon.

"Here," he mumbled as he slipped it on her wrist. She looked absolutely shocked. Hinata was just as stunned when Naruto slipped a pearl bracelet with a purple orchid and some silver ribbon onto her wrist.

"Where did you get this?" Sakura whispered in awe of the beautiful corsage.

"We had Dumbledore fix them up for us," Sasuke explained just as quietly while he pulled out Sakura's chair so she could sit down.

The two of them ended up at a table with Naruto and Hinata, as well as Kiba and Lavender, Ron and Hermione, and Harry and Luna.

"Hello, I'm Luna," Luna greeted Sakura, "you look very pretty."

Sakura smiled at the girl before speaking: "Hi and thanks. I'm Sakura, and you look pretty yourself." Luna did in fact look very pretty in a pale pink dress that fell to the floor. It sort of resembled a Greek toga in it's style, with gold ribbons tied around the thick straps and underneath her breasts. Her hair was piled on her head in a pretty knot tied with another gold ribbon, and thin gold chains hung around her neck.

Harry looked at Luna because it was true she looked very pretty. He himself had been surprised to see no radishes dangling from her ears, looking very much like any other girl. Of course her personality hadn't changed, but he didn't mind it so much. She was entertaining and nice despite her weirdness and honesty, and Harry appreciated having her as his date.

While food appeared and they all began eating, Lavender was glaring at Hermione and Ron through narrowed eyes, overly flirting with Kiba to try and make Ron jealous. Her tactics were obvious to Sakura, but no one else noticed them because everyone else was too busy talking or focusing on their food.

At the table next to their's, Temari and Shikamaru, TenTen and Neji, Ino and Gaara, Chouji, Lee, Kankurou and Shino sat pleasantly enjoying the feast. Ino kept glancing at Naruto and Sasuke, happy to see that they were both sitting close to their dates. Most of her attention was on her own date though - Gaara.

Kakashi had partnered her with him in their second Defense Against the Dark Arts class and she had spent most of her time engaged in conversation with Gaara asking him about Suna and what it was like to be Kazekage. He was much more good-natured these days, smiling and joking occasionally. Eventually she had asked him to escort her to the dance if he didn't mind since he would be going anyways. She had decided his height and his looks would compliment her own. To her surprise he had agreed.

Their night so far had been pleasant. He was acting like the perfect gentleman and paying her every attention, talking with her easily enough. Temari watched her brother in shock for a while, getting over it and realizing that eventually her brother would have to start socializing with girls. Her own evening with Shikamaru had been going very well. Somehow the lazy guy had attracted her attention and they had been thrown together enough times for Temari to take notice of him. On Shikamaru's half, he found Temari exceedingly troublesome, but admired her strength and intelligence.

Neji and TenTen were perhaps the most awkward couple there, shooting looks at each other and barely talking to one another. For a long time, TenTen had liked Neji, while Neji had treated her as nothing more than a teammate. In the years since the first time they had taken the chunin exam the first time though, he had opened up and become friendlier with both of his teammates, but never showed any interest in TenTen as more than a friend. Sakura and Ino were convinced that he had to have some interest in her seeing as how he was seventeen, a male, and TenTen was the only girl other than his cousin that he talked to on a regular basis. Sakura caught Ino's attention during dessert and motioned to the couple winking. Ino understood: Operation Hyuuga was next if the nitwit didn't act.

As the sky above them and outside faded to black with the brightest stars appearing on the hall ceiling, dinner ended and Dumbledore stood from where the teachers all sat on the raised dias.

"If you would all stand," he called.

There was shuffling as everyone pushed their chairs back and stood up. Dumbledore raised his wand and half the tables and chairs disappeared creating an open dance floor. He waved his wand and a stage appeared out of the floor with the Weird Sisters on it which resulted in screams from the wizard teenagers.

"If our students from Japan could take the floor with a partner to open the ball," Dumbledore spoke again.

Naruto readily took Hinata's hand and pulled her to the center of the floor with him. Kiba guided Lavender with him. Lee asked to borrow Luna from Harry, while Hermione offered to dance with Chouji who was looking around for a partner. Kankurou had meanwhile grabbed an eager Hufflepuff seventh year while a girl from Ravenclaw, who had been eyeing the mysterious Shino, grabbed the poor boy's arm and dragged him out to the dance floor behind her. Neji, Shikamaru, Gaara, and Sasuke all walked slowly with their dates to join the large party.

As the first chords of the slow song were struck, the shinobi began whirling around the dance floor with their partners, even Chouji dancing lightly on his feet with a surprised Hermione. After about a minute of watching their swirling students, Asuma and Kurenai joined them, followed by Gai and Tsunade, and then Kakashi who had asked Professor McGonagall. Soon enough, the rest of Hogwarts was on the dance floor.

* * *

Sakura hadn't rested her feet in an hour. After the first song, her and Sasuke had both left the floor with every intention of sitting down, but on her way to a seat, a hand belonging to Harry had tapped her shoulder.

"Would you like to dance? My partner's been kidnapped," Harry asked her motioning to Lee and Luna who were still dancing erratically together.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke who shrugged and kept walking to the chairs. Sakura herself was a little disappointed that he didn't want to keep her to himself, so she said yes to a nice boy who wanted her as a partner.

She passed from Harry to Ron at the end of the song, and then to Seamus, and then Dean. A Ravenclaw boy was next to ask her, and then Naruto danced with her while Hinata danced with her teammate and friend Kiba. Kiba claimed her hand next as he gave Hinata back to Naruto. She was then stolen by Lee, followed by Shikamaru who wanted a break from Temari. A Gyffindor seventh year asked her afterwards, followed by his friend. Gaara came to find her after that, then she danced with his brother Kankurou. A few of the faster dances she managed to escape to dance with her girlfriends, but her crowd of admirers was surprisingly big. Eventually she managed to escape the dance floor altogether and head outside to get some fresh air.

Already a few couples had stolen outside, but they were further in the garden, so Sakura had the entrance to herself. She took a seat on a bench and tilted her head up to look at the stars. Mere moments passed before a head entered her field of vision. She tilted her head back down in response and saw Draco Malfoy standing in front of her in a sleek black dress robe with golden dragons dancing around the hems.

"What do you want?" she sighed, thinking about how easily his mere presence had ruined her decent evening.

"I'd like a dance. No more," he answered her extending his hand.

Sakura looked at him wearily. He had cursed her and tried to slip her a love potion all to get her to this dance with him after all. But as much as he was insufferable and maybe even dangerous if she was being truthful with herself, at least he _wanted_ to dance with her unlike a certain brooding, dark-haired boy who had disappeared.

"One dance," Sakura said eventually, acutely feeling Sasuke's rejection. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her back into the hall and onto the dance floor. A very slow song started and she put the hand that he didn't hold on his shoulder while his free hand went to circle her waist. "Don't touch," she whispered in his ear as she felt his hand move down a little further than where it should have been.

She saw his smirk and the glint in his eyes as he slid his hand back up to an appropriate place. "Is this so bad?" he asked her after a moment sliding his hand down again. She moved her own hand from his shoulder grabbing the hand on her back and sliding it back up forcefully.

"Do it again," she muttered, "and I'll cut it off."

"Feisty," he said, lowering his voice seductively.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Sakura immediately mumbled pulling away.

Draco pulled her back to him holding her tightly. "I'll behave now," he told her with a smile so charming, Sakura was momentarily shocked, even though she knew it was fake.

"Why are you so intent on bugging me?" Sakura asked after a few seconds of silent dancing.

"You're beautiful. You're strong. You're smart. You intrigue me," he answered her, smirking again.

"But I think I've made it clear that I don't like you," she responded glaring at him, more comfortable in the presence of his smirk than his deceptive smile.

He looked into her eyes and held her glare. Eventually she turned her head to the side. "Would you be dancing with me if you fully hated me?" he mumbled placing his lips on the ear that was now by his mouth.

Sakura shivered and was about to retort when someone pulled her away from Draco's arms. Two strong arms wrapped around her waist closing together over her stomach. "I'll be cutting in now," a familiar voice spoke over the music loud enough so that Draco, who stood a few feet in front of them would hear.

Draco glared at Sasuke, who stood behind Sakura, but then turned to leave, calling back over his shoulder: "We'll continue this conversation another time."

Sakura shivered again and was going to yell at him when the strong arms around her body abruptly let go of her so that they could spin her around. Sakura looked up into Sasuke's face and saw that he looked angry. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked her and Sakura could hear that same anger in his voice.

Sasuke meanwhile was thinking about how he had come back from a breather outside to see Sakura in the creep's arms. The moment Malfoy's lips had touched her ear, Sasuke had moved and had pulled her away from him without a second thought. He couldn't understand what she would be doing with Malfoy, especially after the git had tried to slip her a potion and had successfully cursed her.

Sakura, shocked by Sasuke's anger and feeling the same sense of rejection she had felt when she had accepted Draco's request, responded defensively: "I was dancing with someone who wanted my company." She wrenched herself out of his arms and stormed off through the double doors that led outside, marching down the garden path until she came to a secluded, darkened corner with a single bench there. She sat down with a huff, not surprised in the least when seconds later Sasuke rounded the same bend she had. Obviously he could follow her easily. He was a shinobi.

"Why would you dance with him?" Sasuke asked her calmly, his anger hidden now as he sat down next to her.

"Because unlike someone, he asked me. _You_ invited me to the ball. _You_ gave me a beautiful corsage. _You_ made decent conversation during dinner. And then _you_ ran away. The only time we danced together was when you were forced to invite me. And then you get mad at me when I'm with a person who actually does want to dance with me. You're sending me some mixed signals here," Sakura explained, her tone taking an angry edge.

Sasuke didn't know what to say...how to explain himself, though he did manage to grumble: "That dirt bag hardly qualifies as a person."

"If you don't like me, you don't have to pretend for my sake. I'd actually rather you didn't," she murmured sadly not hearing his jibe.

"I'm not pretending," Sasuke finally managed after a minute of silence. He was determined to explain himself to her now, reveal to her everything that he had been thinking about since the start of this mission when everything had started to slip. The fierce protectiveness, the jealousy, the anger, and the wishfulness he had felt when he had seen her in Malfoy's arms had finally made him admit to himself something he had already known in his heart for a long time now. "I do like you. I might even lo- love you. You cared for me. You protected me. You never gave up on me. You believed in me. You brought me home," he said, stumbling over the words (especially the word "love") completely out of his usual character. "You're special to me and I can't imagine any other girl I'd want to be with."

He paused and took a deep breath, ready to continue on with what else he had realized that evening when he had held her in his arms on the dance floor: "But for that same reason I can't be with you. I have to keep my distance. Itachi's still out there somewhere and for all I know, he might decide that he hasn't hurt me enough. I don't need to give him any targets. I can't lose the people I care about again."

"But I would be a target if that was the case anyways, Sasuke," Sakura said desperately, having accepted his confession as truth with a euphoric happiness, only to be thrown back into her world of sadness as he had continued trying to convince her that they couldn't be. "I'm your teammate, and Naruto and I are the only ones who really spend any time with you. If what Itachi really wanted was to try and hurt you, he'd come after the two of us."

"Even so," Sasuke continued quietly, "you know I'm going to go after him someday. I'll leave again, and I might not even live past the encounter. And I don't want to hurt you by disappearing one more time. As soon as I realized all of this, I left you, trying to keep my distance from you. I had let myself get too close to showing you just how much you meant to me. You need to stop caring for me. I won't be responsible for causing you so much pain again."

"I can't just stop loving you, Sasuke," Sakura exclaimed angrily now. "I do. That's the way it is and the way it's been for years. I'll come with you when you go after Itachi because I love you, and that's that. Naruto will come too, because he's your friend and he cares for you like I do. We both want to see you live past your revenge. And you will live if you really love me like you say, because you'll want to come back to me and you won't want to hurt me. And didn't you say you had two goals: to kill a man and to resurrect your clan? How can you accomplish the second if you don't live? How can you accomplish the second without a girl? Wouldn't you rather do that with someone who you say you love? Stop pushing me away when I don't want to be pushed!"

Sasuke looked into Sakura's eyes and saw all the emotion behind them. He imagined that his own eyes were as filled with emotion in this one moment under the stars where he had finally admitted the truth to Sakura - and to himself. She really did look like an angel tonight in her white dress with the diamonds making her hair sparkle. He reached up and brushed a loose strand of it from her face tucking it behind her ear. Then Sasuke let his hand drift to her chin where he tilted her face up so that he could reach her lips. He brought his head down and let his lips brush her's in a sweet, chaste kiss.

When Sasuke pulled back, Sakura looked up into his eyes and saw that this was how he really felt. He did like her. A lot more than she had ever hoped.

"You win, Sakura," Sasuke told her, his voice coming out lower than it had before. There was no way he could hide from his feelings now.

Sakura actually giggled and saw that it drew a smile from the usually stoic Sasuke. "I never thought I'd hear you say that," she whispered, shifting a little closer to him on the bench.

"Neither did I, but your arguments make sense," he said while she grabbed his hand and closed her own firmly around it. "And frankly I'm tired of staying away from you. Besides, I can protect you better if I'm around," he concluded, realizing the truth in that statement.

"Do you know how happy you've just made me?" Sakura asked him tracing her fingers on the back of his hand after minutes of peaceful, comfortable silence.

"I can imagine," he answered her squeezing her hand. He hadn't realized how much it was hurting him to ignore this part of himself. It was easier just to actually let himself love again and risk the hurt than to pretend he didn't care too much about anyone. He untangled their hands and reached up, cradling her head, before he brought his lips back down to hers in a very unSasuke-like gesture that he actually hoped to become very familiar with. Neither person noticed the fireworks on Sasuke's robe exploding twice as fast, or the sakura flowers on Sakura's dress that had started to dance.

* * *

"Where did Sakura go?" Hinata asked Naruto after Sakura had been gone for half an hour.

"I don't know," Naruto answered scratching his head. Him and Hinata were sitting at a table drinking punch and resting up a bit. They had been dancing together for most of the night, and Hinata was now acting considerably less shy around him. "Though now that you mention it," Naruto mused, "I haven't seen Sasuke in a while. Maybe they're together."

"That would be nice," Hinata commented, "it would make Sakura very happy."

"Yeah. And the baka who almost didn't ask her," Naruto added.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while before Naruto invited Hinata to go outside for a walk with him. She stood up and he tucked her arm in his before they both walked into the garden together. They eventually settled on the lip of the fountain in the middle since there was no one else around in the brightly lit up space.

"N-naruto," Hinata stuttered in light of the brave question she was going to ask, "why did you ask me to the ball tonight?" She needed to know, as much as she feared the answer. So far, the evening had been her dreams come true - and for that reason, she knew it was probably too good to be true. She mentally prepared herself for the answer she was sure would break her heart.

Naruto smiled brightly at Hinata before answering her question, "Honestly. I was thinking about it on the first day they announced the ball. I mean, you've always been so nice to me, I thought you might actually say yes. But then I didn't have the guts to ask you cause I was sacred you'd say no. Funny huh, seeing as how I sort of jump into everything. Well finally, Ino and Sakura got mad at me and told me to just ask you already since you actually liked me so I just plucked up the courage and did it. So do you actually like me?" Naruto finished.

Naruto had always been known for his guts, and he had answered Hinata's question as if it was no problem, when in reality, he was sweating profusely from the nerves he had. With Ino and Sakura's guidance, he had come to realized that Hinata was cute. That Hinata was nice. That Hinata was sweet. That Hinata was actually someone that he could like - that he did like. But he didn't believe that she liked him. How could she when everyone else had rejected him his whole life? He had slipped his own question in. One whose answer he awaited nervously, despite the calm, unfazed look he sported.

Hinata blushed even more. "I d-do," she told him quietly thinking it definitely couldn't hurt to be honest at this point. What could she lose? Sure it was mortifying to admit something like that out loud to the actual person it concerned when she wasn't sure how he felt back, but even she realized that to move on with her life, she had to know if he felt the same way. Admitting the truth about her feelings was part one.

"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly and she nodded slowly and cautiously to reaffirm. Naruto immediately gained some confidence. A girl liked him. An actual girl actually liked him. An actually cute, actual girl, actually liked him. He couldn't keep his natural personality from dictating his next words. He was back to speaking without carefully thinking. Back to havign no fear for the sting of rejection. "Cause I like you too."

Hinata nearly died of a heart attack. Her dream was coming true. Naruto was noticing her. He was telling her he liked her. Hinata was really loving this whole school experience. Being a shinobi, she was working from an early age. And there were no school dances, no frivolous holidays to celebrate, no common rooms to gather in at night back in Konoha. It was work, training, and family for her. That was it. Here, she was getting to experience a much more fun life and it was helping her get the attention of the guy she'd had a crush on for years, and be more confident to boot.

Meanwhile Naruto was noticing things like how prettily Hinata blushed and how much less she was stuttering around him now compared to how it had been back in Konoha. He was ashamed that he had once thought her weird and was now realizing that he had actually appreciated Hinata for quite some time - since the chunin exam when she had kept trying to fight against Neji. Her and Neji were now speaking to each other and after some time of getting reacquainted, Neji had taken it upon himself to be her big brother. Naruto was actually surprised that Neji wasn't here right now threatening to rip out his innards or something to that effect.

"Naruto," someone hissed under their breath.

"_Oops, spoke too soon," he thought._

"Come on, Hinata. Let's hide," he suggested cheerily, though he was actually terrified. He grabbed the girl's hand and tugged her behind one of the rosebushes.

"I know you're here, Naruto, Hinata," Neji called out, this time audibly and obviously.

"Leave them alone, Neji," they heard TenTen say as she somehow managed to drag him back inside.

Even though both Naruto and Hinata had felt the pair leave, they remained hidden behind the rosebush. Hinata's pulse raced because Naruto was still holding her hand, and she felt a thrill in just being with him. Naruto's own pulse had picked up speed because he had just resolved to continue to be his usual brave self this evening.

"So if you like me, and I like you," Naruto began after a minute, still holding Hinata's hand in his, "does that mean you're my girlfriend?"

The smile he shot Hinata was so big, Hinata couldn't help but smile easily herself. Inside her chest, she was absolutely sure that her heart was trying to break free of her body - it was racing that fast. Naruto awaited her answer. "If that's what you want," she finally told him, unable to manage the "yes" that she really wanted to say.

"Is it what you want?" Naruto asked her. He wanted to know if she felt the same way he did, because it was most definitely what he wanted. As much as his feelings for her were new in a sense, that didn't make them any less real. He needed to make sure that she really felt the same way. He would never pressure such a title on her.

"Yes," she replied quietly, realizing that staying honest so far had opened up a possibility that she had never thought would be more than a figment of her imagination. It wasn't the powerful "yes" that she really wanted to yell for the world to here, but it was the truth.

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed in a very Naruto-like way dancing around on the ground quietly before turning to Hinata with all seriousness in his eyes. His heart was suddenly pounding instead of just racing, and his palms were sweating even more than before if that was possible. He was legitimately nervous now. Big time. But he wasn't going to quit when the night was going so well already. He opened his mouth to speak again, but this time his words were slow and contained: "Since you're my girlfriend now, would it be alright if I maybe kissed you?"

Hinata blushed perhaps the reddest she had all night. It was what she wanted, but just because she had been honest with Naruto, just because her stutter had decreased around him, just because she had been braver tonight than she'd been in a while didn't mean that she wasn't still shy by nature. Eventually, her wants beat out her shyness, and she nodded her head and let her eyes fall closed. Naruto cupped her face before gently planting a kiss on her mouth.

Hinata almost fainted from the simple, sweet gesture. She was so happy that everything was going so well for her and working out better than she could ever have hoped. She would never have guessed that this night would turn into one of confessions and truth telling and that she would come out of it with not just a possibility, but a boyfriend. Naruto was just as excited about this as Hinata and felt essentially the same one. She would be his girlfriend. His actual girlfriend. He liked her a lot, and maybe soon, that would become love. She was surprising him with every one of her actions and he was learning about her and liking her more every second that they spent together.

"Come on, Hinata," Naruto said as he pulled away from her, his normal bubbling personality restored in full, "let's go dance."

* * *

"Neji, relax," TenTen tried to calm her friend. He was seething about the fact that Naruto and Hinata had gone outside together and then disappeared. "She likes him. You know that. And I think he likes her too. It's a good thing that they're spending time together," she continued.

Neji just looked at her like she was crazy. They were sitting together inside after TenTen had forcibly dragged Neji in from the garden where he was trying to find Naruto and his cousin. "A good thing? How is that a good thing?"

"Don't you want her to be happy?" TenTen asked Neji.

"Yes, but—"

"And would you agree that being with the boy she likes would probably make her happy," she continued interrupting him.

"Yes, but—"

"There are no "buts". Let her be happy then. And maybe try being happy yourself."

"And what do you mean by that?" Neji asked, finally allowed to get a word in edgewise.

"Nothing," TenTen said, quickly retracting her words. She was of course referring to the fact that Neji was so focused on working that he never had fun, that he never thought about things like love.

"What did you mean?" Neji asked again, not letting the issue drop of course and staring into TenTen's eyes trying to read her, something that made TenTen really nervous.

"It's just that, you're so serious all the time," TenTen whispered, breaking eye contact with Neji, and staring at her hands that were folded in her lap trying to keep her pulse from racing. Just looking deeply into Neji's eyes set her on edge.

"We are shinobi. We should be focused on our jobs," Neji answered, wondering why TenTen wasn't looking at him.

"But that's not the only thing that should be important in your life. You need to lighten up a bit, Neji. Hang out with someone you like, like Hinata did," TenTen replied, shutting up right after the last words had escaped her lips. She liked Neji. But of course Neji was way to busy being a ninja to even think about dating someone. And she was his teammate. Neji would surely think dating her was worse than dating someone else.

Neji wasn't stupid though. Not completely anyways. He might not have realized that she liked him, but he knew that she was hiding something from him by the way that she couldn't meet his eyes. "TenTen, what are you not telling me?" he asked her.

"It's nothing," she said looking up at him and realizing her mistake. His eyes were drilling into her's and she couldn't look away. But she just couldn't be honest with him either. "N-nothing. Okay, Neji? Just drop it."

"TenTen," Neji began again.

"Let it drop, Neji," she pleaded with him. And because Neji's eyes were still locked on her's, he could see how much she was begging him to leave it alone.

"Come on, TenTen," Neji started, "let's go dance. It'll be fun." He was trying to cheer her up now. She was a very important person in his life and he didn't understand why she was sad, but he would try to make her feel better. He of course had been dancing with TenTen throughout the evening, but out of duty. It wouldn't exactly be fun, but he was trying to tell TenTen that he was doing this, not as part of a job, but for him...well, for her.

TenTen smiled. "You don't have to dance anymore if you don't want to," she told him in spite of the fact that she really wanted to dance with him.

"But I do. I want to dance. With you," he said standing up and offering her his hand.

It wasn't exactly an admission of love, or even a kiss, but for now, TenTen would take it.

* * *

**Authoress' Notes: Review please, if only to let me know that I'm not alone. It can't hurt to ask, right? I am sure this chapter is the longest yet, and it would have been longer, but I wanted to post it now, so the last remaining parts of it will just be inserted into the next chapter. Sorry if there were any stupid mistakes. I'm too excited that I'm posting something after all this time to proofread it again. And also, sorry for the Sakura/Sasuke moment. There was too much focus on them...I know. But I couldn't help myself. I'll be moving away from focusing on Sakura...I'm sorry for that, but like I've said before...she's just so easy for me to sympathize with and I like her - but this story is also not just about her so I'll be more careful. Also...this story is AU. Current manga updates do not affect the plot of this story. Does anyone actually read these?  
**


	11. The Morning After

**Disclaimer: I believe the word "disclaimer" says enough.**

**Authoress' Notes: Does chapter 483 make anyone else want to cry? Maybe I'm just weird.**

**So... sorry for how long it took to update. But those of you who are still with me have pretty much figured out how infrequent my updates are. It's not because I don't care about this story - I do. Very much. A chapter for this story requires some inspiration though, even if the content is just filler to get us to the next place, and it requires my full attention - which I can't give very often. School and life conspire to keep me busy.**

**This is probably one of my fastest updates since I first started this story... and that's sad. It's been almost four years and I only have about 70 000 words to show for it... and improved grammar. The quality of writing in my first chapters makes me cringe - I plan to fix those in the Summer. Anyways, all I can ask is that you stay with me, remain patient, and wait for the updates, because they will come. All moral support is welcome.**

**If you're interested in bouncing ideas or just chitchatting, PM me.**

**And now, Of Magic and Chakra begins in 3...2...1...ACTION!**

* * *

"You are a surprisingly good dancer," Ino complimented through her giggles as Gaara spun her around and then dipped her.

Gaara offered her a small smile and said: "I had a lot of time to kill with the whole not sleeping thing. And I had quite a bit of time to practice some... more embarrassing things at night without anyone seeing what I was doing."

"I'm glad you came as my date tonight," Ino continued, "I was surprised that you said yes."

"Well, I had no reason to say no," he answered her. "I am not opposed to dancing, and I have no problems with you."

"Well, you sure know how to make a girl feel special," Ino joked, smiling still. She had no more than friendly feelings for Gaara when she had asked him to the dance, though now she could see how someone could easily fall for him. He was very handsome, with his red hair falling into his bright eyes, and he was astonishingly kind now. Not to mention that he was already a kage - powerful, intelligent, and young. He could dance too, and was more than able to carry on a conversation. In fact, Ino had to admit that when she envisioned her future, it was a guy with qualities like Gaara's who starred in her dreams.

"I don't think I told you that you look beautiful tonight," he said after a brief silence. Gaara had never considered any of his acquaintances from a romantic perspective. Yes, he had thought the kunoichi from Konoha pretty, but they were just people to him - some of them friends, but nothing more. After this night though, he could start to imagine what it would be like to care for someone like Ino as more than a friend. She was intelligent, though it wasn't something you would immediately notice, and she was creative. She was also beautiful, and despite her somewhat bubbly, airheaded personality, she was a good kunoichi, devoted to her friends and strong because of it. And she could keep up a conversation about anything and everything.

Ino blushed at the compliment and let Gaara spin her again. She was thoroughly enjoying herself, and was only disappointed that if there was in fact a Christmas ball, she would have to wait almost another four months for an opportunity to dress up and act like a normal teenage girl. She hadn't danced only with Gaara this evening. Like Sakura, she had many partners, though Gaara had returned to claim his date's hand at regular intervals.

Ino let her thoughts turn to Sakura then, and suddenly she was sad. Her eyes revealed these emotions to Gaara, who couldn't help but ask her what was wrong.

"Sakura's my best friend, so I worry for her and want her to be happy. But tonight, even though Sakura was surrounded by people, the one she wanted to be with most disappeared," Ino replied honestly to Gaara's questioning. It's not like Sakura's attachment to Sasuke was a secret - though Ino was perhaps one of the few people who knew how deeply her friend's love really ran.

"Oh," Gaara responded, thinking even more highly of Ino, whose own happiness was so affected by her friend's.

"Think of it this way," she continued while they took another turn around the dance floor. "How would you feel if the person you'd loved for years finally invited you somewhere, and then ditched you, essentially showing that he didn't care for you?"

"I guess I can understand that," Gaara answered uncertainly, trying to imagine himself in Sakura's place. But he also had an idea of the wars that waged inside Sasuke's head. Similar thoughts had once run through his own after all. "But maybe he's just scared that caring for her will ultimately bring him and her more harm than good."

"That's stupid!" Ino exclaimed.

"We're talking about Sasuke, Ino. He's not stupid. But consider his past. It's not hard to see why he would avoid her," Gaara replied. "Think about it."

And Ino thought about it. Sasuke had already lost everything he cared about once - could he stand to lose something he cared about again? Would he even let himself care that deeply about someone again? And Itachi was still out there. Sasuke would go after him one day... he would leave Konoha again... he would leave Sakura again. She sighed heavily. "I guess you're right," she admitted before continuing on, "but that doesn't mean that it's hurting Sakura any less. He should just be honest with her instead of running away if he actually does care for her."

Gaara smirked upon hearing Ino's last words. Her back was currently to the door to the garden, but that meant that Gaara could clearly see who was coming in and out. He turned a little, and then dipped her so that she could also see who was coming in the door. Ino was so shocked, she would have fallen if Gaara hadn't been keeping her up.

In the doorway stood Sakura, but she wasn't alone. She was with a tall, dark-haired boy, who could only be Sasuke. And she was holding his hand and smiling beatifically. Sasuke looked uncomfortable, but really that couldn't be helped - he wasn't the public-displays-of-affection type... even if it was something as small as holding hands. Despite his somehow embarrassed, awkward, indifferent, and cold (all at once) look, Ino would swear she still saw a small happiness in his eyes.

"I think Sakura's fine," Gaara told Ino, pulling her back up. "Now relax," he told her spinning her around the floor again.

Ino laughed and began to enjoy herself again - even more so when she saw Sakura tug her unwilling, though now smirking, partner onto the dance floor as well. Her feelings of happiness were acutely linked to her best friend's. She couldn't feel joyful unless her friend also had some happiness in her life.

Gaara saw Ino's eyes light up when she saw a happy Sakura, and he realized somewhere in his mind that it made her look even prettier. He thought it might be nice to be the one to make her light up like that.

* * *

"Come on, Shikamaru! You can't be tired yet!" Temari exclaimed.

Shikamaru had valiantly escorted her all evening, dancing with her quite often, though he still had managed to escape from her a few times. Now, he was pleading exhaustion and begging to be allowed to sit down.

"You're going to make me cry," Temari said sadly.

"You're a terrible actress and a terrible liar," Shikamaru replied. "Troublesome," he added under his breath. He had no problems with Temari, but he did not enjoy dancing. He much preferred sitting down. So, he ignored her and went and took a seat at one of the tables.

Temari followed him with a very uncharacteristic pout on her face. "You're mean!" she exclaimed childishly.

"Sure," Shikamaru agreed and put his head down on the table.

"If you're not going to dance with me anymore, the least you can do is pay attention to me," she said in annoyance while she smacked the back of his head.

"Why am I here?" Shikamaru mumbled. "This is so troublesome. I should have faked sick and stayed in bed."

"Oh great. So now you're telling me that you wish you didn't come with me. Way to make a girl feel good about herself," Temari continued chiding the boy - after a comment like his last, she thought he was actually deserving of her irritation.

Shikamaru heaved an enormous sigh before he turned his head to look at Temari. "It's not that I don't want to be here with you. It's just that I'd prefer not to be here in general. This is not what I like," he explained. "Actually, your company has made the night a little less excruciating."

"Better," Temari told him, satisfied by his explanation. "And just for that, you get to sit down until the last dance, at which point you will come find me or I will beat you black and blue."

Shikamaru contemplated Temari while she walked to the dance floor to join Ino, Hinata, TenTen, Sakura, Hermione, and even Luna, who were dancing together to some high energy song, their hair and dresses whirling about them. He had long had a certain respect for the Suna kunoichi, and the fact that she wasn't pushing him to do something he didn't want to do just gave her more points in his book.

Temari, who had to push through a ring of hormonal boys - who had stopped to watch her friends dance - just to reach the girls, thought back on her conversation with Shikamaru. She knew that this was not his thing, and she was impressed with him for lasting so long with very minor complaints. He deserved a break.

Plus, he would come find her for the last dance. That's just the kind of guy he was. He might not like parties and dancing, but he would honor her somewhat violent request.

* * *

Luna had left Harry as soon as the dancing began to join Lee on the dance floor. Not that Harry minded terribly. Luna was just a friend, and frankly he wasn't too interested in dancing. Not that he hadn't danced. He had asked Hermione for a dance, as well as Sakura and her friend Ino. At that point, he had about exhausted the girls he would/could ask.

'_If only Ginny weren't dating that stupid prick,' _he thought, a green monster of jealousy flaring up in him. He forced his thoughts to move on.

He watched as his two best friends danced together again. They looked happy, and Harry was very glad that Ron had managed to get up the guts to ask Hermione. Times weren't going to get any better with Voldemort wreaking havoc on the world - the two deserved every bit of happiness they could find.

Harry sighed. This ball wasn't his thing. He stood up to leave, giving Ron a nod to let his friend know that he was going. Tomorrow, he would finally tell them both about the newest development in his life, but now, it was time for bed. Quidditch tryouts were tomorrow just before lunch, and he had promised Naruto that he would give him flying lessons before that. It would be an early and long morning.

As he walked through the doors, Naruto and Hinata suddenly appeared behind him holding hands - Hinata with a stunningly red blush on her cheeks.

"Going off to bed, Harry?" Naruto asked cheerfully. Harry nodded and Naruto smiled, "Well isn't that the biggest coincidence? Hinata and I are both done for the night. We were going to head back to Gryffindor tower now too."

Harry could see through the lie though. The shinobi had left him alone occasionally during the last week, but only when he was in the castle surrounded by hundreds of other people - and they had probably just had eyes on him that he couldn't see. Right now though, he would probably be the only one, other than the first and second years (who had been sent to bed already), in Gryffindor tower. That wasn't exactly a safe, crowded place.

Harry was actually impressed with how well the shinobi had been keeping tabs on him in the last week. Just now, he had suddenly decided to leave, and someone had come to join him. When he was making an attempt to study in the library, he would see one of them come in and settle down nearby. He was sure that even when the ninjas had all disappeared that afternoon, he was still, somehow, being watched.

Naruto, Hinata, and him walked up to the tower, where they gave the Fat Lady the embarrassing password and then strolled into the common room. Naruto gave Hinata a peck on the lips (which surprised Harry who hadn't thought that the two were a couple) and then followed him upstairs. Harry didn't see Hinata leave the common room and return to the dance to join her friends - they were having a girls' night after all.

When Harry and Naruto reached their room, they both stripped off their dress robes and changed into their pyjamas.

"Hey, Naruto!" Harry called out while both boys climbed into their beds.

"What's up?" Naruto answered eloquently.

"About flying lessons tomorrow. If you're still up for them, we can start at nine in the morning," Harry told the blond.

Naruto looked a little panic stricken, having forgotten all about how he had agreed to take the flying lessons after his one disastrous experience on a broom. But he recovered just as quickly, eager not to be bested by an inanimate object, and said to Harry, "Alright."

The two boys were silent after that. This gave Harry time to think, and finally he got up the courage to ask Naruto one of the questions that had been forming in his head over the last few days.

"Hey, Naruto?" Harry called out again, this time unsurely.

"Yeah?"

"How did you get rid of that guy... Orochimaru?" Harry asked quietly. He wanted to know how the "ninjas' Voldemort" had been killed. How many people had been involved? How had it been accomplished? One day, much too soon, he felt that he would have to face a similar situation.

"Wow. I haven't thought about that day for a while," Naruto mused, sitting up in his bed. He thought there wouldn't be any harm in telling Harry what so many people in his world knew, so he launched into the story.

"Before I start, Harry," Naruto began, "what you have to understand is that we had some very personal issues with this creep on top of him just being a threat to everyone's safety. To make a long story short, Sasuke went off to join Orochimaru to become more powerful. Meanwhile, the weirdo was planning on taking over Sasuke's body to get Sasuke's power. But the technique required for that was something Orochimaru could only do every three years, and he had done it right before Sasuke had reached him... so he had to wait. And while he waited, he trained Sasuke to be even stronger.

"During that time, Sakura and I both trained to become stronger too, so that we could bring Sasuke home. Eventually, we managed to catch up to Sasuke and Orochimaru right when Orochimaru made his move to try and steal Sasuke's body. Sasuke wasn't exactly going to just let that happen though. But the bastard was so blind to everything except his own goals that he hadn't realized that Sasuke was almost as strong as him. When Orochimaru made his move, Sasuke retaliated. And Sakura and I joined in the fight when we stumbled across it - it was perfect timing really. Anyways, it's hard to describe a battle like the one we fought to someone who doesn't know what a fight between shinobi looks like, but just imagine our little demonstrations before the sorting times, like, a million.

"The final strike was a combined effort. Sasuke charged him from the front, and I got him from behind. Sasuke was badly injured though since he had been fighting on his own for a bit before we showed up, and after the killing blow, he passed out. He probably would have died too if Sakura hadn't worked on healing his injuries right there and then. Afterwards, she passed out from overexertion. We had to wait a day before heading home because I needed Sakura awake - I was too tired to carry both of them. Sasuke was unconscious for two more days after that. I don't think we could have brought him back with us otherwise and then had the chance to convince him to stay - there was a reason he ran away to get power from someone as deceptive and cruel as Orochimaru.

"But that's another story," Naruto stopped himself. He couldn't reveal much more without bringing up things that weren't his to tell.

Harry silently processed what he had just heard. It was just the three of them. Three teenagers, armed not with wands, but real weapons and strange powers, had defeated a killer. But then again, technically only one wizard was needed to defeat Voldemort. It was the problem of finding him, getting past the Death Eaters, and then winning.

"Did he not have any followers?" Harry asked abruptly when the idea of Death Eaters popped into his head.

"Yes and no," Naruto answered. "I mean, when we found him, they were at one of Orochimaru's private bases, so no one else was there, except for his right hand man - who disappeared while we were fighting. We still don't know what happened with him. As for the rest of them, even today we're dealing with small attacks from some of Orochimaru's other followers, but without him, they're not really motivated and very disorganized. We were actually pretty lucky with how everything turned out."

"Oh," Harry mumbled.

"Why do you want to know all of this? Are you worried about that Voldemort guy?" Naruto asked. He was much more aware of how people thought these days. He had grown older and he had matured since his early days out of the Academy.

"Yeah," Harry answered honestly. "Some day we're going to have to fight him. And he has a lot of followers who he'll probably use to shield himself. It doesn't help that he really wants me dead."

"That's why you've got us," Naruto said, flashing Harry a giant smile. "We're going to keep you safe, and we'll find out whatever we can about that stupid guy while we're here. And if it comes down to a fight... well we'll kick some ass!"

Harry couldn't help but grin in light of Naruto's attitude. And he really did feel a little better about the future. If Naruto and his friends could defeat that guy Orochimaru, then maybe him and his friends stood a chance against Voldemort - even with his new powers. After all, they had new allies.

Noise in the stairwell let the two boys know that the dance was already over. Harry glanced at the watch on his wrist and saw that it was already ten after two. Naruto, Hinata, and him must have left the Great Hall just before the last few songs.

"Ah, Lee. Get over it," they heard Kiba say as he pushed the door of their room open.

Lee, Sasuke, Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Ron all filed in right behind him. Lee looked particularly sullen.

"What's the matter with Lee?" Naruto asked.

Kiba flopped down on his bed and burst out laughing. "He just saw something shocking," Kiba replied.

"What did he see?" Naruto asked again, bouncing on his bed. He wanted in on the joke.

"Why don't you ask the broody one over there?" Kiba motioned towards Sasuke, who promptly closed the curtains around his bed.

"What happened? What happened?" Naruto continued his pleading.

Kiba just laughed.

"I don't think he's very happy that Sakura gave Sasuke a kiss on the cheek before running off," Ron answered, taking pity on the excited Naruto.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed loudly.

"It's okay, Naruto. The youthful Sakura-chan has not chosen me. I will run five hundred laps around the grounds tomorrow to make myself more worthy of her attention," Lee muttered sadly in his dejectedness.

Naruto wasn't really paying much attention to poor Lee. Instead, he had hopped out of his own bed and was presently ripping the curtains away from Sasuke's.

"Go away, dobe," Sasuke muttered, his eyes shut.

"Not until you tell me what happened. Why did Sakura kiss you? Did you finally get up the courage to make a move? There's no way she would have done that if you hadn't done something first!" Naruto continued babbling excitedly.

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke grumbled, sounding more pissed off.

"You have to tell me what happened first!"

"Naruto," Sasuke growled, his eyes snapping open.

"I thought we were friends, Sasuke. Best friends. Brothers even," Naruto mumbled sadly, his eyes growing big and tear-filled.

Sasuke was unaffected by Naruto's puppy dog eyes, but Naruto's words reached him. Naruto was in fact Sasuke's best friend, though the Uchiha would almost never say it out loud. Sasuke would probably have told him anyways at some point... just because they were friends and because he knew that it would make Naruto happy to know that both him and Sakura were happy.

But he would not tell Naruto in front of everyone else. Sasuke could practically see Kiba's ears straining to hear them.

"Later," Sasuke finally answered.

Naruto cheered and hopped back into his own bed. "I'll hold you to that, teme. And if you don't tell me, I'll just beat you up until you do!"

Kiba looked crestfallen to be missing out on that bit of gossip, but quickly snapped out of it when Seamus asked him a question: "Hey, Kiba? Where's your dog?"

"Oh. I left him with Hagrid for the night," Kiba explained.

Some more conversation followed, and eventually the boys drifted off to sleep, though Naruto lay awake, knowing Sasuke would probably be awake too. When he heard eight people breathing steadily, he opened the curtains around his bed and headed down to the common room.

Sasuke came down a minute later.

"So," Naruto grinned when Sasuke took the opposite end of the couch that he was seated on.

"So," Sasuke repeated.

"You and Sakura, eh?"

Sasuke managed a nod.

"Finally!" Naruto exclaimed quietly.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked his friend.

"Sasuke, even when we were first genin together you worried about her. These days, you always make sure she's okay. I mean, I stumbled across you holding her hand! You don't hold my hand," Naruto whined at the end, laughing quietly at Sasuke's expense.

Sasuke smacked the back of Naruto's head and Naruto sobered up for a second before dissolving into a fresh round of laughter.

"So, did you kiss her?" he finally asked. "I know Sakura would never have kissed you on the cheek if you hadn't already done something similar."

Sasuke briefly wondered why he had thought telling Naruto any of this would be a good idea - Naruto would tease him about it mercilessly. He also realized that Naruto would find out whether he told the blond or not. Sasuke wasn't holding any illusions that Sakura wouldn't at least tell her best friend what had happened. And Ino did love to gossip.

"Yes," he answered monosyllabically. It seemed like Naruto was waiting for more details. Sasuke sighed. "She was dancing with Malfoy, I got... mad, then she got mad at me and said that I didn't have to pretend to like her, I told her how I felt, told her why I thought we couldn't be together, listened to her tell me why all my reasons didn't make sense, and then I kissed her because she was right and because she still loves me - even after everything I did."

"Yeah, you really don't deserve her," Naruto commented jokingly. And then, realizing Sasuke might actually take his words seriously and come to some more stupid, irrational conclusions, he abruptly changed the topic, not giving Sasuke any time to think on what he had just said. "I kissed someone tonight too!" he said excitedly.

Sasuke snorted. "It better have been Hinata, or Neji will skin you alive. And I'm not going to help you out."

"Of course it was Hinata-chan! She said she would be my girlfriend!" Naruto continued with his happy proclamations.

Sasuke snorted again. "Neji will probably skin you alive anyways."

Naruto looked pensive for a moment before mumbling, "True."

* * *

"No way!" Ino squealed loudly.

"Shut up, Ino!" Sakura whispered, clamping her hand down over her friend's mouth. She glanced around the room to see if anyone had woken up to Ino's outburst, and was satisfied when the other four girls slumbered on. "You can't tell anyone else."

"Oh, come on!" Ino whined. "You can't expect me to keep a secret like that to myself."

"I do!" Sakura insisted. "It's going to be tough enough on Sasuke without everyone knowing all the sordid little details. I only told you because you're my best friend."

"But you kissed him on the cheek in front of everyone," Ino pointed out.

"And that's as far as we'll probably ever get in terms of public displays of affection," Sakura answered. "A kiss on the cheek is probably the most he can handle in public - and then only if I'm giving it. I'm not going to push him."

Ino pouted. "You're no fun," she whined some more. And then she got serious. "I'm very happy for you, Sakura. The guy you love cares for you - and he kissed you. Even if you two don't show your affection in public, it doesn't matter as long as you both know where you stand," Ino said very maturely. Then she smirked and added, "And as long as you show your affection in private and tell me all the lewd details."

Sakura smacked Ino's arm playfully and the two dissolved in silent giggles.

"You know, magic kind of rocks. This room is awesome," Ino mumbled when the two had calmed down.

"I completely agree. This afternoon it was the perfect dressing room, and now it's the perfect bedroom," Sakura replied giving the Room of Requirement another once over.

Even in the darkness that enveloped them, Sakura could still see the six beds, much like the ones in their dorm rooms, the open door to the bathroom (with six sinks and six showers), the rich purple carpet, and then the sitting area where her and Ino sat, being the only ones awake. The couches were far enough away from the beds that they didn't wake everyone up with their chatter.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence that was broken when Sakura suddenly spoke.

"So, I think Operation Orange can be put on hold for now seeing as how Naruto kissed Hinata tonight," she mused.

"I forgot about that," Ino commented, "but you're right. Shall we move on to Operation Hyuuga next? That boy needs to become more aware of the world. Particularly females. More particularly TenTen."

"And hopefully he won't want to beat Naruto as badly if he's distracted," Sakura pointed out.

And then the two girls dissolved into a fresh round of giggles. Neji had become overprotective of Hinata slowly but surely after their first chunin exam. Now he was a force to be reckoned with when it came to the young girl's safety and happiness. Naruto would have to deal with him soon since he had miraculously escaped the Hyuuga somehow this evening.

* * *

Gaara turned over in his bed, unable to sleep. Ever since Shukaku had been extracted from his body by Akatsuki, the insomnia that had plagued him for his young life had mostly disappeared. But sometimes, like tonight, he just couldn't bring his eyes to close.

Instead, he pulled the curtains from around his bed and glanced around the room to see if anyone else was awake. Satisfied that no one was, he left his bed and strolled into the Slytherin common room. It wasn't exactly his favorite place to be, but seeing as how it was empty, it was actually sort of peaceful.

Just then, he heard footsteps, and turned his head to see the door into the common room opening and someone trying to sneak in. Gaara's eyes narrowed when he caught sight of a white-blond head. He coughed explicitly and watched with satisfaction as Malfoy's shoulders tensed.

"I thought I would be the only one awake at this hour," Gaara said aloud, remembering how Shikamaru had told him to try to get friendlier with the slime ball in front of him. That had been at the beginning of the week. Gaara had not tried in his dislike for Malfoy, but he knew that he should put in the effort. Now seemed as good a time as any.

"I needed to walk and... clear my head," Malfoy answered. Gaara could hear the hesitation in his reply and knew Draco was lying, but he didn't push it.

"I know how that feels," he said instead, trying to make it seem like he was sympathizing.

"Yeah," Malfoy replied eloquently, still standing by the door.

Gaara faked a yawn before standing up. "I think I'm off to bed now," he said, deciding he had put enough effort into trying to be nice to Malfoy for one night.

As he returned to his bed, where he was sure to lie awake for another hour at least, he thought about what he had just seen. Draco Malfoy, wandering back into the Slytherin common room at three in the morning, obviously up to no good. The question was whether he was working for a personal vendetta, or something more sinister.

* * *

"Okay, Naruto," Harry said, studying the guy in front of him. Both of them were floating a few feet in the air, Harry on his Firebolt, and Naruto on one of the ancient school brooms.

It had taken them about half an hour to get to this point since the broom Naruto was using just hadn't wanted to come up off the ground for him. When it finally had come up, it had taken a while to teach Naruto to kick off the ground and not fall off the broom as it rose in the air. Finally, after much practice, Naruto could hover a few feet above the ground - as both him and Harry were presently doing.

"I want you to lean forward over the handle just a bit now. The broom should move forward when you do that," Harry continued after he had Naruto's attention.

Naruto did as he was told and abruptly sat back up when the broom started to move forward. It stopped moving as suddenly as it had started.

"This is just so weird," he mumbled, much to Harry's amusement. Naruto could create a ball of swirling energy in his hand, and a flying broom was weird.

"You just need to get used to it," Harry laughed before moving on with his explanation. "Now, if you turn the handle to the left, you'll go left. You turn it towards the right, you go right. Lean forward, you go forward. Tilt it up, you head higher, and tilt it down, you head towards the ground. Essentially, just move the broom in the direction you want to go and that's where you'll head. It takes a while to get used to, but it's not hard if you practice."

"Says you," Naruto mumbled again.

"Just try going somewhere," Harry told the ninja. "You'll never get better if you don't try."

Naruto eventually leaned back over the broom and let himself be carried forward again. After a few seconds, he sat up and came to a stop. Then he leaned forward over the broom again and repeated the process. The next time, he leaned the broom handle to the right and turned around, heading back for Harry, sitting up to bring the broom to a stop before he hit him.

"This isn't actually that hard!" Naruto exclaimed happily. "Take that you stupid broom! No inanimate object gets the best of the future Hokage of Konoha!" He was actually enjoying himself very much, and he hadn't even gone very fast or very high yet. Flying was turning out to be very liberating...and fun.

'_Plus,'_ he thought triumphantly, _'now I know how to do something that Sasuke doesn't.'_

"Come on, Naruto. Try it again. Maybe pick up some speed. Then we'll try going up higher," Harry suggested.

Naruto was only too happy to agree.

* * *

"Where's Naruto?"

Sakura turned around to see Neji standing behind her, his hands crossed angrily in front of him. Shikamaru, Shino, and Chouji stood behind him - presumably having followed him from the Ravenclaw dormitory. Apparently, Neji had decided to disregard TenTen's words from the night before.

"And so it begins," Sakura laughed.

"What did you say?" Neji asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Nothing," she said, whistling innocently and turning back to her food, and then, "Hinata, tell your cousin to relax."

Neji finally realized that Hinata was sitting with Sakura, as were Ino, TenTen, and Temari. Neji briefly acknowledged TenTen before turning his gaze to Hinata - who was studying the table top, a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Hinata, can I talk to you?" he asked now. He was planning to have words with Naruto (which meant he was going to beat Naruto to a pulp despite what TenTen had told him), but now that Hinata was here, he saw it as a golden opportunity to talk to her.

"Hinata, come on. We're going to miss the flying lesson," Ino said grabbing the poor girl by the arm and dragging her away from the table and out of the Great Hall, away from Neji.

Neji was a little angry that Ino had taken his cousin away when he wanted to have a serious chat with her, and after a few seconds delay, he made a move to follow them. He found himself unable to move however when a hand closed around his wrist.

"Oh no you don't," Sakura said as she pulled him down into the seat next to her.

TenTen was sitting across from Sakura, and she laughed at Neji's stunned look. The other boys took up seats at the Gryffindor table since it was pretty much empty. Even though it was already ten in the morning, pretty much everyone was still asleep because it was a weekend and because of the late night.

"You're going to listen to me now, Neji. I know I'm younger than you and you're higher ranked than me, but unlike you, I am in control of myself and my emotions right now since I am not an overbearing and protective cousin," Sakura began.

TenTen and Temari both snickered gracelessly.

Sakura ignored them and continued, "Hinata has loved Naruto for forever, and now that she's happy, you are not going to ruin that by _trying_ to help her make _smart_ decisions. Do you understand me?"

Neji stared at her in disbelief. Chouji, Shino, and Shikamaru were trying not to get involved, and continued chewing the food they had piled on their plates, though they were listening as intently as TenTen and Temari to the conversation between the pink-haired kunoichi and Neji.

"What?" Neji spluttered uncharacteristically.

"You heard me. I'm not saying that you can't still be protective of her. You can even threaten Naruto if it makes you feel better. But you are not going to try to keep them apart, and you are not going to_ over_react - because that will hurt Hinata and totally defeat your purpose," Sakura continued to explain.

Neji just continued to stare.

"Anyways," Sakura said, turning back to TenTen and Temari, "I heard from Kakashi that they want us to have a training session tonight already. Fun, right?"

Neji was processing what Sakura had just said to him. Sure he had known that Hinata had a crush on Naruto - but love? If she loved Naruto, then he just had to accept their relationship, as much as he didn't like the idea of his cousin in a relationship with anybody. And Neji knew Naruto was a good guy and a great ninja - probably a future Hokage of Konoha. He was just concerned for Hinata, as any big brother would be for his little sister when she brought home her first boyfriend.

After a few minutes, Neji tuned back into the conversation going on around him.

"Wanna go watch?" Temari was asking Shikamaru while poking him repeatedly, and annoyingly, on the shoulder.

"What's the point? He always makes a fool of himself. It's nothing new," Shikamaru answered her.

"Come on, Shikamaru. You know it'll be entertaining," Chouji contributed his opinion. "And there's nothing else to do. Unless you want to work on homework or something."

Shikamaru sighed: "Fine. We'll go see Naruto learning to fly around on a broom. How troublesome."

When everyone stood up, Neji realized that they had already finished eating and he had yet to start.

"You'll catch up with us in a bit right, TenTen?" Sakura called over her shoulder as she strolled off with Temari, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino.

Neji finally noticed that TenTen was still seated across from him, food still on her plate.

"Of course," she called back, waving goodbye to their friends. "So," she said to Neji when everyone else was gone, "are you feeling like killing Naruto any less after being scolded like a three year old by Sakura?"

"No," Neji answered, though truthfully, he was less inclined to be stern with Naruto - exactly how he had calmed down the night before after TenTen had talked to him.

TenTen laughed. "I'll take that as a yes. Now hurry up and eat - I'm almost done and I want to see Naruto flying on a broom. I can't even believe they have things like that. It's just so weird."

Neji smiled. TenTen knew him too well. Then he put some food on his plate and ate quickly to please her.

* * *

Ron woke up with a start, realizing that today he had Quidditch tryouts. He gulped and pulled the curtains away from his bed, looking immediately to Harry's in what had become a routine action.

The curtains around Harry's bed were wide open, and Harry was most definitely already gone. Then something Harry had mentioned to him the day before passed through his head. Right. Harry was probably giving Naruto flying lessons down at the pitch.

Ron yawned and climbed out of bed. That was when he noticed that the curtains around everyone else's beds were pulled open. He glanced at the watch on his wrist and saw that it was already ten forty.

"Shit," he mumbled.

He had to be at the pitch for eleven.

* * *

"Has he fallen yet?" Kiba asked excitedly, coming to join the growing group of shinobi in the stands around the Quidditch pitch.

"Sadly, no," Neji replied.

Sakura was about to tell him to be nicer when she saw who had come with Kiba.

She closed her mouth and looked at the ground.

"Where's Lee?" TenTen asked Kiba, who had presumably come from getting his dog from Hagrid's since Akamaru now sat at his feet.

Kiba snickered. "Oh, Lee's running laps around the grounds right now," he answered.

"Why?" Kankurou asked. Him and Gaara had come outside to watch the disaster they assumed Naruto flying would be. So far, Kankurou had been disappointed. Naruto was actually doing pretty well. But Kankurou was still holding out.

"Ask Pinky. Or Broody. Either one should be able to tell you," Kiba continued laughing.

Sakura was still staring determinedly at the ground, hoping it might swallow her up whole. Last night, she had been feeling pretty brave considering everything that had happened. But now, the morning after, she felt pretty embarrassed for kissing Sasuke in public, even if it was only on the cheek. Did he want everyone to know? She could blow the innocent kiss off as a friendly gesture - all that would require was kissing the other boys. Even Temari, TenTen, and Hinata, who had all witnessed her display, had just assumed the kiss meant that things were getting better between the two teammates. The only one who Sakura had told how far they had actually progressed in their relationship in one night was Ino.

She felt someone occupy the space next to her and looked up to see that Sasuke had sat down beside her. She knew a blush was rising on her cheeks, and she quickly turned her head away in embarrassment. There were plenty of free seats - the shinobi had been lounging across three rows in the stands - but Sasuke had come to sit right beside her. That was when she heard Ino join in with Kiba's laughter.

Kiba finally answered Kankurou: "Lee's sort of bummed out that the "youthful Sakura-chan" gave Sasuke a kiss on the cheek last night."

Kankurou laughed while Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, Gaara, and Shino processed this new piece of information. They hadn't been on the seventh floor headed to the Gryffindor common room (or the Room of Requirement like the girls) to witness the event.

And just like that, all eyes were trained on Sasuke and Sakura, sitting next to each other with barely any space between them.

Sakura was on the verge of jumping from her seat and kissing the nearest male on the cheek to get rid of the staring, when a hand grabbed her own. She looked at it in shock, just like everyone else looked at it. Then she looked up at Sasuke. What she saw in his eyes was enough to convince her that he was okay with everyone knowing. Regardless, she wouldn't make him too uncomfortable.

She settled for resting her head against his shoulder, their hands still entwined.

"So what?" Sasuke said.

This resulted in the girls cheering happily for their friend. The boys were quiet, but they were also happy. They might not have had the same easy and openly caring relationship that the girls had developed, but through mutual respect and an interest in seeing each other survive, they had developed a bond. It was this bond that ran deep through the teens and linked all of their teams together, despite the unlikeliness of their friendship. Even Sasuke, who had run away from home, fit in. They were almost like the pieces of a puzzle - all different, some pieces fitting perfectly with others, others almost fitting together, and others not fitting with each other at all, but still coming together to make a perfect picture.

It was this happy moment that was interrupted by laughter.

"Haha! Teme and Sakura are holding hands! They love each other! Sasuke and Sakura sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Naruto started to singsong, floating mere feet above the group of ninja on the broom. Harry was right behind Naruto, and he was looking at the couple with interest as well. As much as Naruto and Hinata had surprised him, this surprised him even more. His first impression of Sasuke had been that he was distant and cold. Apparently, he had misjudged him.

"Naruto, shut up," Sasuke warned.

"Or else what? Are you going to get me? Cause guess what. You can't catch me, you can't catch me," Naruto continued to sing while he pulled away on the broom, zooming up and then down. Unfortunately for Sasuke in this case, Naruto had turned out to be quite decent on the broom after some practice.

"You have to come down sometime," Shino pointed out.

Naruto blanched.

"And when you do, I'm right behind Sasuke," Neji threatened.

Naruto had forgotten about him.

And then Sasuke looked over to Neji and said: "Naruto kissed Hinata."

Neji's angry stare intensified while the boys all stared at the blond in shock...the girls had known, but this was news for the men in their group.

"Hinata! Help!" Naruto cried from the air, cringing from his two glaring friends.

* * *

Quidditch tryouts were over. Ron had made the team. And now, he was babbling excitedly about it.

"I thought I was going to miss that fourth penalty," Ron said happily. "Tricky shot from Demelza, did you see, had a bit of spin on it-"

"Yes, yes, you were magnificent," Hermione laughed.

"I was better than that Cormac McLaggen anyway," Ron continued. "Did you see him lumbering off in the wrong direction on his fifth? Looked like he'd been Confunded..."

To Harry's surprise, Hermione started to turn a deep red. He didn't think too much on it. They were already headed towards the castle, and there was something that Harry had to tell them before they went back into Hogwarts.

The shinobi were still outside, some of them trying to convince Lee to stop running around while others watched in amusement as Naruto remained on his broom, circling above Sasuke's and Neji's heads - he hadn't come down at all during the long tryouts Harry had held. Both boys were just waiting for the moment that his feet touched the ground.

Harry knew that if he brought his friends down by the lake, someone would be watching - and maybe listening. But Dumbledore would have known that he would tell Ron and Hermione everything, and the ninjas would just have to accept that too.

"Guys. Before we go inside, I need to tell you something. Let's go down by the lake," Harry said abruptly, spinning on his heel and heading away from the castle.

Ron and Hermione, who had been talking about the Quidditch tryouts still, heard Harry's abrupt words and saw his actions. They shrugged and followed him, eventually settling down next to him by the water.

"What's up, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"There's something I have to tell you," Harry began. And then he explained all about how the people they thought were foreign exchange students were really ninjas who lived isolated from them, essentially in their own world. He told them what he knew about Orochimaru - including the story Naruto had told him - and that Voldemort was apparently gifted with his powers now.

"Bloody hell," Ron breathed when Harry had finished.

"So Dumbledore got these guys involved because of Voldemort's new powers," Hermione mused. "Well that makes sense. It's something we don't know anything about and that they've had first hand experience with. Not to mention that it sort of evens out the playing field - he gets a bit of their magic and we get them."

"It doesn't make it any less weird," Ron mumbled. "Ninjas. Bloody hell."

"Yeah," Harry said, gazing out at the water.

"And they watch you all the time?" Hermione asked, suddenly looking around.

"Yup," Harry answered. "Pretty much. Sometimes I don't see them, but I'm sure they have eyes on me somehow. I'm fairly sure that someone is watching us right now."

"I can't believe those chicks are ninjas," Ron mused, hearing what his friends were saying, but still fixated on the thoughts running through his head. "I mean the guys... that I can understand. Some of them are scary. But those girls... I mean I can sort of see the one in Slytherin being a ninja - but Sakura, Hinata, and Ino?"

"Ron, that's sexist!" Hermione protested. "Don't you remember the first day? Hinata dodged knives thrown at her back, and Sakura held Naruto and Sasuke on her arms without the slightest bit of discomfort. They're more than capable of beating you up I'm sure."

"I guess," Ron muttered, "still... ninjas. It'd be cool to see them fight."

"You want to see us fight?"

Naruto suddenly dropped down in front of them, landing on the water, but not sinking below the surface.

Hermione held her hand over her heart.

"We have a training session tonight. I'm sure it would be okay if you guys came to watch," Naruto continued. "Just ask Shikamaru about it." He finished by calling out loudly, "Shikamaru!"

A few seconds of silence passed, and then...

"Naruto!"

The blond in front of them jumped off the lake and onto the ground, and then with a wave, he sprinted away as Sasuke and Neji came out of nowhere, chasing after him.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in confusion. What had just happened?

And then Shikamaru was joining them, as if he had always been there. And he probably had.

"So you told them," Shikamaru sighed, looking at Harry. "Troublesome. But Dumbledore told me this would probably happen. I guess it's easier if you two know anyways - we can avoid a lot of questions in the future that way. As for seeing us fight, that's probably a good idea - just in case a real situation arises where we need to protect you in a battle, you should be familiar with how we work. We have a training session tonight. I'll let you know where and when at dinner."

Shikamaru finished his speech, and Ron and Hermione were silent. Someone had been watching and listening to them - just like Harry had explained. But it was surreal to see it for themselves. Finally, Harry spoke the first thing that came to his mind.

"Um, what happened to Naruto's broom," he said, wondering why the energetic ninja had come to the ground voluntarily while the two guys were still chasing him.

"About that," Shikamaru sighed again, "it won't be missed, will it?"

"Not really," Harry answered, wondering where Shikamaru was going with this.

Just then, Temari came over to join Shikamaru, killing herself laughing.

"Oh man. Naruto is toast. Sasuke and Neji are just chasing after him for the sake of not letting him win at this point. I still can't believe that Sasuke sent a fireball at him and burned the broom!" she said through her laughter.

Harry stared at her dumbfounded: "They burnt the broom?"

"The two of them don't like to lose, and as long as Naruto was in the air... well technically he was winning," Temari explained with a grin on her face.

"That's sort of intense," Ron muttered.

And then Sakura was running up to them.

"Which way did they go?" she asked.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione pointed in the opposite direction that Sakura had come, and Sakura groaned. "I'm going to kill them. Naruto and Sasuke know how much I hate it when they fight - even if it is just for fun," she muttered before taking off.

"Fun?" Ron murmured, now a little scared of his new roommates. His comment went unheard over Temari's question.

"So it's okay if Neji fights with Naruto even after you told him off this morning?" Temari called after the girl.

Sakura stopped and turned around. "Hinata, TenTen, or Lee can deal with him. Neji's not my problem anymore."

And then she was off again.

Temari burst into laughter when TenTen came into sight. Her laughter doubled when Harry, Hermione, and Ron immediately pointed TenTen in the same direction as Sakura.

* * *

**Authoress' Notes: Next chapter probably won't be out until the end of April. I am very sorry for this, but I have a lot of school work in the next six weeks, and then I have exams. After exams, I have four months of Summer, and hopefully updating time.**


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